quick facts
Peta (our Principal Planner) spent 4 years at the University of Queensland, studying a Bachelor of Regional and Town Planning … and graduated with honours to boot.
Peta started her career working in Council. Which means she understands “how things work on the inside”, what the drivers are, and what makes them tick. She also has many long-standing relationships as a result.
BTP has been shaking things up for over 10 years now. Or as we like to say … we are out of the unpredictable “newborn phase”, but far from hitting the “grumpy and ready to retire” phase … aka, in the sweet spot.
Last year we did approx 360 jobs (detailed reviews, prelodgements, apps etc). Not bad for “a small fry” :P Yep, we will be honest, the automation magic we rock behind the scenes is a big factor in that … and it helps us “bat above our average” #CreditWhereCreditIsDue.
Yeah we get around …
… zoom in to see the suburbs we have worked in to date, and click on the pins to learn more about the number of projects we’ve done in those areas. As you will see, the inner western suburbs (particularly around Ashgrove, Bardon, and Paddington) are where we tend to hang out the most.
Meet the team
The Brisbane Town Planning family is made up of three equally important characters. With Peta as the HEAD HONCHO/Principal Planner, KIM AS THE ROOKIE PLANNER/CLIENT CUPID and “Charlie” as the backbone that holds everything together behind the scenes.
PETA
Professional on the outside and slightly loco on the inside … which means she is serious when she needs to be and light-hearted when she doesn’t.
Peta has been kicking about in the planning world for over 20 years now. After graduating from UQ (with the planning degree), she worked in Brisbane City Council’s West Team. Initially assessing applications, and later working as the customer liaison officer (aka general planning enquiry person). She then jumped over to the “other side of the fence”, to work private firm on the north side of Brisbane. In 2014, after 7 years in the private world, she started BTP … with the desire to “do things differently”.
Likes – Chocolate, crazy physical challenges, biz innovation/automation, random OS travel experiences, and challenging expectations.
Dislikes – Small talk (especially on the phone), cooking, and bureaucratic red tape.
kim
Having joined the team in 2020, Kim spent the early days behind the scenes focusing on research tasks. Tasks like reviewing previous approvals on dev i and scouring online resources like realestate.com, for info to support performance justifications. Or reviewing historic records (postal records, Detail Plans, etc.) for pre-1911 checks.
Her critical thinking and problem-solving skills soon took centre stage, and as a result, her role has evolved into sooooo much more.
Kim’s role is now as an “Assistant Planner meets Client Cupid” kind of thing. Yep, it’s a weird mix, but it works. She is now Peta’s “right-hand woman” so to speak, supporting Peta to do her thing. While also ensuring clients stay up to date on their jobs/feel the BTP luv.
Likes – Her Shitzu dog Vodka, and hitting the beach.
Dislikes – Negative vibes.
“CHARLIE”
A play on Peta’s last name Charles, “Charlie” is the nickname given to BTP’s automated town planner.
Developed in 2018, “her” main role is to use automation magic to review sites … to dig up dirt (so to speak) on a property. So that people know what they are in for or up against before they start financially and emotionally committing to a property/design. She is also super helpful in other areas of the biz that people never see.
Check out the working with “Charlie” section for more information on how you can tap into “her” automated magic for yourself.
Likes – Repetitive tasks, and “open data” sources.
Dislikes – Website updates that break “her” coding, and slow internet connections.
Over the 10+ years that BTP has been in biz, we have noticed that we tend to do things a little differently around here!
Scroll down to learn more about why that is.
our approach
We buck the serious “professional” norm, and we embrace a more approachable and light-hearted vibe. Nothing against the traditional approach … it just isn’t us! Check out our socials to see what we mean.
We also passionately believe that “you get more with sugar than the whip”. Meaning that we deliberately focus on creating positive and friendly working relationships with the Council peeps.
Why? We are all about the positive vibes man … unicorns and rainbows for all right!
Jokes aside, we believe that we as professionals can have differences of opinions … yet we can still work together in a respectful way to get the best outcome for the client. More importantly for you though, we think that you tend to have more open/frank and impromptu conversations with “friends”, and more often than not, you have a better read on what they are thinking. Which means we get quicker results with less fuss for all involved.
Does this approach suit every client and every job … nope! If you are pushing a big development job, that will no doubt end up in court as it is triggering a million performance outcomes … you want a whip-yielding (aka “bulldog”) planner to push your case. That kind of work isn’t “our jam” though … “ain’t nobody got time” to go to court on our kind of housey jobs. We leave that to the big boys :P
Last but not least, we treat everyone “like they were our mum”. This means we give the same honest and upfront feedback/advice we would to our own fam bam. Aka … we won’t let you proceed down the application path unless we honestly believe that the agreed end outcome will be supported by Council. There may be a few revisions or tweaks required along the way to get there, but we will always explain what they are before you hand over any mullah. So you know what you are getting yourself into before we start.
What makes us different?
Well … unlike most town planning firms, BTP is run by young'ish chicks. This means that we bring a fresh perspective and a sense of energy to the town planning process. Why take our word for it though, read the testimonials below to see what others have to say about us.
what our clients have to say about us
CLICK ON THE RIGHT ARROW TO READ MORE
