After gaining a postgraduate Diploma in Planning in 1991 (specialising in Minerals planning) , Mark worked on the establishment of the West Yorkshire Green Belt inner boundary with West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council. He then moved to Ryedale District Council in North Yorkshire where a highlight was working on a Greater York New Town settlement project which was eventually dropped. A spell working for York City Council included work on inner and outer city housing developments. For the last 20 years he has worked for the North York Moors National Park Authority latterly taking on the role of lead mineral officer and culminating in a key role determining a new Potash mine application believed to be the largest planning application ever submitted to a UK National Park. He has also developed an interest in Fracking issues given the Authority’s close proximity to likely shale gas reserves of the Bowland-Hodder unit. Mark has sat on a Yorkshire Post expert panel seeking to explore both sides of the public Fracking debate, attended several Fracking public meetings and presented/planning panellist on Planning Issues at the2015 ESGOS conference and 2016 UK Onshore Oil & Gas summit. He has been a Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute since 1992.
