ABOUT

ABOUT US

Friendly and approachable professionals   

OUR EXPERTISE

Lepus provides professional, best value environmental consulting services for sustainable development from our offices in Cheltenham.

Our client base is distributed across public and private sector clients. This includes central government, national park authorities, local planning authorities, renewable energy sector, residential and transport sector clients.

Our approach to each project is customised to the client’s requirements. As a client, you can expect director level appreciation and appraisal of the project. The team will deliver the project under director leadership. We are a listening consultancy.

All of our staff are professionally trained in environmental planning to masters level. They are all members of various professional institutes including CIEEM, IEMA and the RTPI. Our team is able to draw on a rich variety of project and programme experience.

If you require advice on your planning application affecting ecology, biodiversity, or landscape then please get in touch via enquiries@lepusconsulting.com.

If you are currently preparing a Neighbourhood Development Plan or Development Plan Document, or other document for which an SEA may be required, we provide planning and strategic environmental assessment support and would be more than happy to discuss your requirements.

OUR TEAM

All of our staff are professionally trained in environmental assessment and planning. Our team is able to draw on a rich variety of project and programme experience.

Neil Davidson 
BSc (Hons) MSc CEnv MCIEEM CMLI

DIRECTOR
Neil is a founder of Lepus Consulting and a landscape ecologist with 20 years' experience, applying the principles of landscape level planning to help shape land use plans and programmes to maximise sustainable development performance.  

Neil has worked in local and central government for 10 years, providing ecological, green infrastructure, recreational and landscape management and protection advice, he also served as a policy advisor.  

Neil is one of the UK’s leading strategic environmental planning experts and set up Lepus, in part, to support local planning authorities in the preparation of their local plans. He regularly appears at Examination in Public and has an invaluable in-depth knowledge of plan making. Neil specialises in the Strategic Environmental Assessment, green infrastructure planning and Habitats Regulations Assessment of plans and programmes. 

Neil is passionate about landscape ecology and the opportunities to optimise ecosystem services through appropriate land use configuration; he is fascinated by butterfly metapopulation dynamics in calcareous landscapes.

Samantha Cheater 
BSc (Hons) MSc CEnv MCIEEM

PRINCIPAL ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANT
Samantha is a Principal Environmental Consultant with over 15 years’ experience in the environmental sector. Over this time, she has gained in-depth experience of plan and project led environmental assessment, with a particular specialism in Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA), Sustainability Appraisal (SA) and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). This experience covers a wide range of sectors including land use and transport planning, major transport projects (road and rail), mixed use developments and projects from the education, health care and renewable energy sectors.  

Samantha has proven experience in co-ordinating and delivering a wide range of stakeholder consultations. This includes engagement with statutory consultees, non-statutory consultees and technical specialists.

Samantha has led projects for a diverse range of clients across England and Wales from both the public and private sector. Clients like Samantha for her professionalism and determination to find evidence-led solutions to potentially complicated large scale strategic challenges.

Emily Hannis
MA (Hons)  

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANT
Emily joined Lepus as an Environmental Consultant where she works in the environmental planning team specialising in SA and SEA projects. 

Emily has provided support for a wide range of Lepus projects, having a strong background in research focusing on sustainable food production, neighbourhood planning and climate change mitigation. She assists senior members of the team with data analysis, report writing and GIS-mapping. She has also supported the Business Development team at Lepus where she has developed her understanding of stakeholder engagement and Local Planning. 

Emily has worked on multiple projects in the UK, Germany and Romania to engage people with the natural environment. She has lead workshops in schools to educate young people on sustainable food production and agriculture. She was a member of the Buchanan Institute ThinkTank and has completed a project generating policy proposals to embody a bottom-up approach towards the ’20-minute-neighbourhoods’ concept in Edinburgh. Emily obtained her degree from the University of Edinburgh in Sustainable Development specialising in Politics and International Relations.  

Emily is a keen violinist and enjoys playing various other instruments in her free time. 
 








Will Ewart
BSc (Hons) 

SENIOR ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANT
Will has comprehensive experience of working on a range of landscape assessment projects. Leading on all LVIA projects, Will has demonstrated strong skills in report writing and project management and is an integral part of the Landscape team at Lepus.

With experience carrying out Landscape Character Assessments, capacity studies and Green Infrastructure projects, Will has an array of experience and applicable skills. Will regularly works in protected landscapes and has completed projects in the following AONBs and National Parks: Arnside and Silverdale AONB, the Cotswolds AONB, Chiltern Hills AONB, Malvern Hills AONB, Peak District National Park and Lake District National Park. He is therefore familiar with protected landscape policy and planning control in these areas.

Having completed his thesis on using GIS to determine visual impacts of wind farms on the Lake District National Park, Will is comfortable using QGIS and has developed on this skills during his time at Lepus. 

 

Laura Beveridge 
MSci (Hons) ACIEEM

SENIOR ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANT 
Laura is a Senior Environmental Consultant specialising in Sustainability Appraisal (SA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). Since joining as a graduate with an MSci in Biological Sciences from the University of Birmingham, Laura has progressed quickly over the five years she has been here and now leads our SA team.
 
At university, Laura’s masters project focused on the impacts of climate change and increased carbon dioxide on woodland ecosystems. Building on her background in research and data analysis, Laura has developed strong skills in report writing and assessments supported by her GIS capabilities.
 
Demonstrating skills in project management, Laura oversees a range of SA/SEA projects and is able to manage competing deadlines on complex projects. She also plays an important role with our new starters, offering training and support.
 
Laura has always been interested in the natural world and hopes to continue to provide support for sustainable development in the UK throughout her career. She is an Associate member of CIEEM.

George Wheeler
BSc (Hons)

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANT
George recently joined Lepus as an Environmental Consultant following his graduation from Cardiff University where he studied Geography and Planning.

George has developed strong report writing and data analysis skills building upon his background in planning, research methods and policy research. 

George has recently become a member of Gloucester Vale Conservation Volunteers whereby he keeps an active role in issues surrounding the environment and sustainability. 

In addition to the above, George is a keen Rugby player coaching youth teams in his free time. 






David Dycha
BA (Hons) 

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANT
David is a Landscape Architect having graduated from the University of Gloucestershire with a 2:1. David is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in the same discipline.

David is a strategic and innovative member of the team and is excellent at communicating with clients. He specialises in Green Infrastructure (GI) and Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (LVIA). 

He is experienced using GIS, the Adobe creative Suite, AutoCAD and 3D modelling software.

David was recenlty involved in a volunteering project that helped restore sensory gardens at care homes.




 

Poppy O'Riordan
LLB  (Hons) 

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER 
Poppy is a Business Development Manager who joined Lepus following a career in the City.

Poppy has always had a keen interest in the environment following her environmental law studies at UCL and has demonstrated her Business Development skills in her role at Daylesford Organic. 

Poppy designs and makes her own silver jewellery in her free time and enjoys cooking and hosting for friends and family.

LET'S TALK

Lepus helps shape effective and appropriate environmental planning policy for our clients by delivering products that are meaningful, highly useful and sound. 

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