Land with Certainty
The Society of Land Referencers (SoLR) held its annual Land with Certainty Conference on 18 September at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). Over 140 people from across the infrastructure sector came together, including representatives from over 25 organisations.
Organised entirely by volunteers, the day was packed with energy, collaboration, and clear messages about the value of land referencing.
Key takeaways included:
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Invest early: Budgeting for land referencing and engagement at the outset pays dividends later. Being there from the beginning helps shape project limits and demonstrate the best outcomes for people and places.
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People matter: Public support comes from being on the ground, listening, and building trust. Land referencing is, above all, a human practice.
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Collaboration counts: Land, consents, and stakeholder engagement are inseparable. Step out of comfort zones, build cross-disciplinary links, and approach landowners with one clear voice.
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Enjoy the process: It’s ok not to know the answer; clients and Land Referencers can (and should) enjoy working things out together.
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Innovation with identity: AI is a tool, but people make the difference. The profession should continue raising its profile across the sector, highlighting our expertise and digital innovations.
The day closed with a challenge: take a leap beyond comfort zones and keep showing the difference Land Referencers make.
Thanks go to our sponsors: Ardent, Blackhall & Powis, Mott MacDonald, Pandell SoLR and WSP, the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) for hosting us, and all our speakers and member volunteers:
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Mark Aanensen (Winckworth Sherwood)
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Lynn Alderson (Fisher German)
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Adam Anyszewski (Continuum Industries)
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Joshua Brown (Mott MacDonald)
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Alex Crow (Ardent)
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Tom Dix (Turner and Townsend)
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Martin Follmer (Kier)
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Matthew Fox (Pinsent Masons)
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Simon Harth (Mott MacDonald)
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Jim Harvey (The Message Business)
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Azhar Hussain (Apogee)
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Ben Joss (Mott MacDonald)
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Sarah Joss (Mott MacDonald)
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Adam Lakin (Bentley Project Management)
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Nasia Lupini (WSP)
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Sam McAleese (Mott MacDonald)
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Tom Mothersole (Counter Context)
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Duncan O'Connor (TLT)
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Ashley Parry Jones (WSP)
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Chris Simpson (Mott MacDonald)
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Sukhdip Somal (Ardent)
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Caitlin Wentworth (National Grid)
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Olivia White (Cavendish Consulting)
Event Photos
Agenda
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10:00 - 10:30
Arrival & Refreshments
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10:30 - 10:45
Chair
Welcome and Conference Chair
Jim Harvey
Managing Director, The Message Business
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10:45 - 11:00
Session 1a
Optioneering (Land inputs into the Optioneering Process and Technology)
Duncan O’Connor
Partner TLT LLP
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11:00 - 11:20
Session 1b
Optioneering (Land inputs into the Optioneering Process and Technology)
Adam Anyszewski
Co-Founder and CPO, Continuum Industries (Optioneer)
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11:30 - 12:30
Session 2a
Panel Discussion on Pre – Application (Setting up your project for success)
Tom Dix
Project Director, Turner and Townsend
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11:30 - 12:30
Session 2b
Panel Discussion on Pre – Application (Setting up your project for success)
Caitlin Wentworth
Lands Senior Project Manager at National Grid
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11:30 - 12:30
Session 2a
Panel Discussion on Pre – Application (Setting up your project for success)
Ashley Parry Jones
Head of Land, WSP
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11:30 - 12:30
Session 2b
Panel Discussion on Pre – Application (Setting up your project for success)
Adam Lakin
Project Director, Bentley Project Management
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12:30 - 13:30
Lunch
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13:30 - 14:00
Session 3a
Post-Submission to Consent (Managing Relationships through the Rigours of the Process)
Tom Mothersole
Associate Director, Counter Context
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14:10 - 14:40
Session 3b
Post-Submission to Consent (Managing Relationships through the Rigours of the Process)
Olivia White
Director, Cavendish Consulting
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14:40 - 15:10
Refreshments
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15:10 - 15:45
Session 4a
Delivery (Land team role in Delivery)
Martin Follmer
Community Engagement Manager at Kier
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16:20 - 16:30
Closing Remarks
SoLR
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Evening
London Networking Event
Tattershall Castle, Victoria Embankment
SoLR Land with Certainty Conference 2024
On Thursday 24th October, in partnership with the Royal Geographical Society at their South Kensington building, SoLR held our inaugural Land with Certainty conference. This gathering brought together professionals from various land referencing disciplines, highlighting the significance of our industry and the extensive topics we had to discuss as a unified group.
An industry conference has been an ambition of the SoLR board and wider industry members for many years. Following SoLR's collaborative industry workshop in June 2023 and the creation of our sub-committees, the Professional Engagement sub-committee took ownership of bringing this ambition to life. Planning for the event started back in November 2023, with wider support from SoLR's members in February supporting the conference organisation coming together. With the commitment, organisation and support of SoLR members the conference was a great success.
The conference brought together 100 attendees from over 20 land referencing organisations to listen and discuss relevant and important topics. Speakers from 9 different organisations, including consultancies, charities, legal and client entities discussed key topics such as consenting regimes throughout the UK and delivering projects sustainably with emphasis on people and the legacy the projects will leave behind. The conference was opened by Mike Crowther, the Chair of SoLR's Identity sub-committee, discussing the importance of our industry and the need for us to collectively agree our identity going forwards. Catherine Souch, the RGS' Head of Research and Higher Education, followed this up by discussing professional geography and accreditation routes available to those in our industry. These opening talks brought together the synergies that exist between land referencing and professional geographers and were echoed throughout the day by all of the speakers.
Key takeaways from the conference sessions included:
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The importance and need for us to agree our land referencing identity
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Legislative and standard recommendations that we can promote as a society
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Our continued commitment to collaborating with complementary organisations and industries such as the RGS
The day was superbly chaired by Jim Harvey, a long-term supporter of SoLR and member of our identity sub-committee.
We see this event as a major success and the start of an annual event for members. We have ambitions to make this event bigger, with more topics discussed and an even more diverse set of speakers in 2025. As with any initial event, we have been, and continue to be, interested in collecting feedback from attendees. We are currently reviewing feedback collected from those who attended the conference, and please get in touch at hello@solr.org.uk if you would like to provide any additional feedback or suggestions for our 2025 conference.
Finally, we would like to express our thanks to everyone who made this event happen. From the attendees, speakers, sponsors, and every wider SoLR members who dedicated their time to put this event together.