Phil is an environmental planner with more than 40 years’ experience, specialising in resource management and consenting processes for significant development projects, advising clients from across the public and private sectors.

He has an in-depth knowledge of New Zealand’s environmental legislation and its implementation and is an experienced expert witness particularly in water-related matters. He has acted as a hearings commissioner and chair on more than 100 occasions.

Phil is a member of the New Zealand Planning Institute, Past President and Founding Executive Committee Member of the Resource Management Law Association and is a recipient of the NZ Planning Institute Distinguished Service Award. Phil has been a member of two of the Government’s Resource Management Act Technical Advisory Groups, the more recent of which was to recommend amendments to sections 6 and 7 of the Resource Management Act 1991.

Phil is co-founder and Partner at Mitchell Daysh - an environmental planning practice.

Phil lives in Auckland.

He uri tēnei o Ngāti Raukawa te au ki te Tonga, o Ngāti Tūwharetoa, o Ngāti Maniapoto hoki.

Bernadette is a barrister specialising in public and administrative law litigation and Māori legal issues. She has been senior counsel in the Māori Land Court, District Court, High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of New Zealand, in judicial review proceedings, appeals and other general litigation including Waitangi Tribunal proceedings.

Bernadette is a Deputy Chair of the Teachers’ Disciplinary Tribunal, a Trustee of the NZ Law Foundation and Raukawa ki te Tonga Trust, a Commissioner of the Transport Accident Investigation Commission, and an active member of Te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa (the Māori Law Society). 

Prior to joining the independent bar, Bernadette was Crown Counsel at the Crown Law Office in Wellington and a Director of Wackrow Williams & Davies Ltd in Auckland.

Bernadette is a co-founder of Kōkiri Chambers - a kaupapa Māori, virtual barristers’ chambers.

Bernadette lives in Whanganui.

Kyle is an engineer specialising in river engineering and floodplain management. As an independent consultant with more than 20 years’ experience Kyle regularly provides expert evidence and peer review advice on a range of river management areas.

Specialist areas include review of hydrological and hydraulic models, design review and failure diagnosis of flood and erosion protection works, and expert advice for complex river and floodplain management related issues.

Kyle was a member of the Rangitāiki River Scheme Review panel which investigated the failure of the Rangitāiki River floodwall that caused significant flood damage to Edgecumbe in 2017 and was the technical expert for the 2018 Independent Review of the Ngongotahā Flood Event which investigated significant flooding which occurred in Ngongotahā, Rotorua.

Kyle is a practice area assessor for Engineering NZ and is past Chair of the Engineering NZ/Water NZ Rivers Group. He has recently authored best practice guidelines on the future direction of river management in New Zealand.

Kyle is the Director of Christensen Consulting - a flooding and erosion advisory consultancy.

Kyle lives in Wellington.