The Consultants
Phil Lomax is the
principal consultant and is responsible for managing all contracts and
projects.
For several years (up to 2008), Phil was an active member of the Chief Leisure Officers Association (CLOA) in Hampshire.
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From
2000 to 2008, Phil was Head of Countryside and Recreation for Eastleigh Borough
Council in Hampshire. He managed a Unit of 25 staff responsible for managing
leisure centres, country parks and nature reserves, biodiversity conservation,
parks and play area development, tree protection and management, sports
development and health activities. He directed the production and
implementation of the Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) for Eastleigh; the Sport
and Recreation Strategy and the delivery of a £17 million programme of new
sport and recreation facilities; produced the Parks and Green Spaces Strategy
and oversaw the borough Tree Condition Survey and the Review of Tree
Preservation Orders.
Prior to this,
from 1991 to 2000, Phil was Countryside Services Manager at Eastleigh Borough
Council, during which time the number of countryside sites managed by the
Council doubled, mostly as a result of land transfers negotiated under planning
agreements (eg the 60 acre Telegraph Woods as part of the Hampshire Rose Bowl
cricket stadium development).
He managed the
development of Lakeside Country Park from a restored sand and gravel extraction
site and brought the nationally important Hamble Common (Site of Special
Scientific Interest SSSI , and Scheduled Ancient Monument SAM) into positive
management through a successful Countryside Stewardship funded programme.
Phil Lomax was a founding member of the Association of Local
Government Ecologists (ALGE) and served on the national committee for
several years, taking the lead in the campaign to secure greater statutory
recognition and protection for locally important nature conservation sites.
He also represented ALGE on the English Nature, Local Nature Reserve Grant
Panel for two years.
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He also managed
the Itchen Hamble Countryside Project which improved the landscape, nature
conservation and public amenity of over 100 urban and urban fringe sites,
including the award winning * restoration of the Hiltingbury Lakes and
Edwardian Water Gardens and North End Nature Park.
Phil directed and
co-ordinated the first comprehensive habitat survey of Eastleigh with the
Hampshire Wildlife Trust, identifying over 100 Sites of Importance for Nature
Conservation; an important tool for conservation planning in the borough.
From
1987 to 1991, Phil was the first Nature Conservation Officer to be appointed at
Leicester City Council. Based in the City Planning Department, he produced and
co-ordinated the award- winning* Leicester Ecology Strategy. He led the
implementation of the strategy including the establishment and management of
the Aylestone Meadows Nature Reserve and the design and creation of the
Watermead Park Nature Reserve; both as part of the creation of the award-
winning* Leicester Riverside Park. He also co-ordinated city-wide action to
introduce wildlife friendly management to Leicester’s formal parks and the
design and management of urban drainage schemes.
As Urban Nature
Conservation Officer for Leicester City Wildlife Project (part of the
Leicestershire and Rutland Trust for Nature Conservation) between 1983 and 1987,
Phil co-ordinated the Leicester Habitat Survey – the first ever detailed
ecological survey and assessment of the whole city. He also supported the West
End Community Association in its plans to transform disused railway sidings
into an award winning Community Park* (The Rally) and designed the Rally Nature Gardens at the gateway to the park.
At the invitation of the former Nature Conservancy Council, Phil sat
on the UK Man and the Biosphere (MaB) Urban Committee for several years.
For his work in urban ecology and nature conservation, he was
described in English Nature’s ‘Urbio’ magazine (spring 2006) as one of the
100 ‘champions’ and a ‘mastermind’ of urban conservation.
“Phil Lomax’s work in the 1980’s put Leicester at the forefront of
urban nature conservation”
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Phil has always
been a keen supporter of partnership working and has worked in many partnership
projects. These include:
• Representing Hampshire
District Councils on the Hampshire County Council Steering Group responsible
for producing the Hampshire Biodiversity Action Plan(BAP)
• Representing Hampshire
District Councils on the Hampshire County Council Steering Group that planned
and established the Hampshire Biodiversity Information Centre (HBiC)
• Representing Eastleigh
Borough Council on the Solent Forum which produced ‘A Strategy for the Solent’ in 1997
• Representing Eastleigh
Borough Council on the Solent European Marines Site Management Scheme
production led by English Nature
• Representing Eastleigh
Borough Council on the River Itchen Steering Group and was involved in the
production of the Hampshire County Council funded River Itchen Management
Strategy and the Environment Agency funded River Itchen Sustainability Study.
Awards * (referred to above)
1. British
Association for Nature Conservation (BANC) ’Councils for Wildlife’, national
award winners 1989, Leicester City
Council, for the Leicester Ecology Strategy.
2. Europa Nostra
Environmental Awards, Diploma of Merit, 1989 Leicester City Council, for the Leicester Riverside Park.
3. Royal Town
Planning Institute (RTPI) Community Planning national award winners, 1989, the
West End Community Project Leicester, for The Rally Community Park.
4. Southern England in Bloom, Regional Environmental Award winners, 1992, Eastleigh Borough Council,
for the restoration of the Edwardian Water Gardens, at Hiltingbury.
5. Community
Enterprise Awards , commendation, 1993, for Eastleigh Borough Council’s Itchen
Hamble Countryside Project.
6. Conservation in
Action Awards, runner-up,1995, Eastleigh Borough Council and the North End Residents
Association, for the North End Nature Park.
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