On 4 August 2025, the Ryans Road Industrial Development expert consenting panel commenced work. The panel consists of:
Chris Fowler (chair)
Chris is a senior partner at Saunders & Co and leads the firm’s environment and planning law team. Chris has 25 years’ experience in environmental law. During that time Chris has been a partner in a national firm and a founding partner of Adderley Head (specialist environmental law firm) before joining Saunders in 2022.
Chris has particular expertise in urban planning and greenfield development. He has successfully led the consenting phase of many large urban development projects involving plan changes and resource consenting. This has included acting on a complex residential proposal under the COVID-19 Recovery (Fast-track Consenting) Act 2020 and associated Infrastructure Acceleration Fund application to Kāinga Ora. More recently, Chris has been heavily involved with the Waimakariri District Plan Review process successfully acting on several large-scale residential rezoning submissions.
As well as his advisory and advocacy work, Chris is also a member of the Resource Management Law Association and served on the Executive of the National Committee for a number of years.
Andrew Willis
Andrew Willis has worked in the resource management field for almost 30 years and has extensive experience in urban development, strategic and recovery planning and policy development, gained from working in both New Zealand and the U.K.
Andrew has held planning roles in local government and the private sector and is currently the director of his own town planning consultancy, providing independent planning services for central and local government and private clients. He has gained a number of planning practice industry awards for his work.
Andrew holds a BSc (Ecology) from the University Canterbury and an MSc (Resource Management) from Lincoln University. He is a full member of the New Zealand Planning Institute and former NZPI deputy Board Chair. He is also an accredited Independent Hearings Commissioner with experience in plan change and resource consents hearings. Andrew understands te ao Māori and Māori development.
Michael Parsonson
Michael is an environmental and planning specialist with 25 years' experience in regional and district consenting, policy and project delivery through local government and the private sector. Michael is a full member of the New Zealand Planning Institute and a certified hearing commissioner with chair's endorsement. Michael has been a panel member on a range of district and regional consent applications, notices of requirement and plan changes since 2010. He has been a member of two Boards of Inquiry and six applications considered under the COVID-19 Recovery (Fast-track Consenting) Act 2020. Michael is a member of the Resource Management Law Association and a former board member of the International Erosion Control Association Australasia. Michael also provides trainer re-certification services to the Ministry for the Environment.
While Michael has experience across a broad range of planning and environmental matters, he has a particular focus on resource use, infrastructure and construction, including residential, commercial and industrial development, roading, wind farms, wastewater, stormwater and other industrial discharges, quarries, airports, and rail.
Register of Interests
The register records all relevant panel members' interests and is updated, when necessary, throughout the consenting process.