Karen van den Brand is a partner and head of the local government, planning and environment law department at MSL - Michael Sing Lawyers.

She provides advice to a number of local governments, statutory bodies, builders and developers, in a broad variety of areas. Karen has assisted clients on a number of large infrastructure projects, and has provided specialist advice in relation to water and wastewater services. She appears in the Planning and Environment Court regularly, as well as the Land Court on matters such as resumption and land tax claims. As a consequence, she has a solid understanding of the technical issues that generally arise in such appeals, and has the requisite knowledge in specialist areas of expertise. This allows Karen to manage consultants in large projects, ensuring that aspects of development applications and appeals are not overlooked from a legal standpoint.

Karen is also a member of the Queensland Law Society's Planning and Environment Law Committee, reviewing and providing comment on proposed legislation.

She is a strong supporter of the environment industry on the Gold Coast, and loves to scuba dive in her spare time.

Emily Weir is a planning and environment lawyer at Michael Sing Lawyers who primarily undertakes the conduct of litigation on behalf of local governments.

Ms Weir also provides advice to developers, companies and individuals. Ms Barrett has expertise in the regulatory framework surrounding water resources and wastewater; planning, environment and local government law advice for local governments, companies and individuals; preparation, review and amendment of local government laws and subordinate local laws, as well as local government registers, including delegations of authority, policies and management directives; undertaking prosecutions on behalf of local governments to ensure regulatory compliance; conducting litigation in the Planning and Environment Court for developers and local governments; project management of development projects in conjunction with consultants; and environmental compliance audits, due diligence and impact assessment.

Ms Weir has been the Secretary of EnviroIndustry Gold Coast since July 2008. During Ms Weir’s spare time she enjoys skiing and scuba diving.

Rangi is the Director of Ocean Park Consulting and is experienced in Local Government Management, Strategic Planning and Corporate Planning, and Project Management.

Rangi is a Civil Engineer. He has been formerly Deputy Manager of the Planning and Development Department and a former Director of Gold Coast Water at Gold Coast City Council. He is experienced with infrastructure provision for local area plans for urban areas and regulatory and statutory matters associated with urban development.Rangi is experienced in Urban Planning and Master Planning with a strong emphasis on sustainable development outcomes. He is experienced with coordinating specialist environmental and design consultants input for site analysis, assessment and delivery management of a broad range of projects including master planned communities, residential subdivisions, urban infill development, event engineering, eco tourism facilities and convention facilities.

Rangi is a founding Committee Member of EnviroIndustry Gold Coast and has been appointed Treasurer since Oct 2004.

Butch is a Principal Environmental Consultant with 19 years environmental management experience. Butch started his career specialising in wildlife management and conservation planning which led him into various eco-tourism and utility development projects.

After establishing and running his own environmental consulting business for 7 years, Butch immigrated to Australia and joined Parsons Brinckerhoff. With PB he fills the role as the Environment Capability Team Leader at their Gold Coast office in Varsity Lakes conducting a broad range of environmental impact assessing and enviornmental management activites on projects ranging from environmental auditing through to mega infrastructure projects such as mine, road, rail and power infrastructure developments.

Butch joined the EnviroIndustry Gold Coast Committee in October 2008.

John is the owner and CEO of Sanoway Australia, representing Sanoway GMBH Europe, a business focussed on innovative and environmentally-friendly solutions for optimising irrigation water usage. It was after showing the product Sanoplant at the 2007 EnviroIndustry Gold Coast AGM that John became interested in becoming a member and serving on the board. John also has an interest in Ecoplant, a business specialising in planting, erosion control and related activities.

Previously MD of a large company, he has been active in other industries and served on a number of company boards and association committees, so John hopes his input will bring a different perspective to EnviroIndustry Gold Coast direction and activities. He is conscious of the need for the Association to be of benefit to its members and to the local environment. John has been on the EnviroIndustry Gold Coast Committee since Oct 2007.

John relocated to the area 2 years ago with his wife and three children, so is a relative newcomer to the Gold Coast. Leisure activities include golf, boating, the beach and generally enjoying the Gold Coast outdoor lifestyle……..which he believes is worth preserving!

Matt Keys is the Managing Director of Habitat Environment Management Pty Ltd. Habitat is one of Queensland’s leading Environment Planning firms and has received numerous awards over the past 10 years.

In a 20 year career within the Environment Industry, Matt has also held senior management positions with leading national Non-Government Environment Organisations, including the Australian Conservation Foundation and Surfrider Foundation.

In addition, he has held numerous positions on varied Local, State and Federal Environment committees.

He has been on the EnviroIndustry Gold Coast committee since Oct 2007, serving a year as President between Oct 2007 - Oct 2008.