Developing Consensus has appointed Nick Gholkar as Deputy Chair.
Nick, who is the Executive Partner for the Newcastle Office of law firm Ward Hadaway, started his journey with the property and development membership group volunteering as a scribe at a Developing Consensus workshop back in 2012.
Since then, as he’s risen through the ranks at the legal powerhouse, Nick has always stayed committed to looking after the interests of the wider region through supporting Developing Consensus.
Nick said: “Developing Consensus always stands out because of its crucial public and private sector cross-collaboration. This allows our private sector members to feed into one unified body, which consults with our public sector associates for the greater good of our region and the development industry.
“Over the last 18 months, while sitting on the steering committee, I’ve led a key task group in exploring the membership’s governance and formalising this to create a solid foundation in which our membership can sit.
“I’m delighted to take up the role as Deputy Chair at such a pivotal and exciting time for the region, as we see the work of the North East Combined Authority headed up by our Mayor really starting to take shape.
“I’m looking forward to ensuring our private sector members’ feedback is heard and that our collective voice is a pivotal sounding board as our region continues to unlock funding and make strides forward.”
As part of his role Nick will help represent Developing Consensus’ private sector membership, putting forward their feedback and agenda to enable development in the region, while playing a pivotal role to help shape the future of the group alongside the North East Combined Authority.
Sandra Manson, Chair of Developing Consensus, said: “We’re looking forward to welcoming Nick as Deputy Chair. Nick has been a vital member of our steering committee and has gone over and above to assist Developing Consensus in the launch of its new manifesto, while working with his team on the group’s governance structure.
“We have a busy quarter ahead as we submit our feedback on the draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), continue to have dialogue on the region’s evolving infrastructure plans and work on further strengthening the relationships with our public sector associates and I’m delighted to have Nick joining me at the helm for the journey.”
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