Gillian Baillie is founder and director of Gillian Baillie Planning, an independent consultancy providing town planning and consenting advice and services to commercial, private and public sector clients across Scotland.
Gillian is a chartered town planner (Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute) with over 25 years of experience across public and private sector. After graduating with a Masters degree in Town Planning, her first role was with a Scottish local authority where she gained valuable experience in the assessment of planning applications and development consents, policy development (and in dealing with contentious situations!). She has spent the most part of her career working in consultancy at Jacobs based from Glasgow, leading multi-disciplinary teams on major projects in transportation, buildings and energy sectors. This culminated in her role as Group Practice Lead for the company’s UK and Ireland planning team, responsible for guiding skills development, recruitment and resourcing. She is an experienced expert witness at public inquiries and the Lands Tribunal for Scotland, and was invited onto the Scottish Government’s Practitioner Advisory Group on Compulsory Purchase Order legislative reform, providing insights from her experience of major projects requiring compulsory acquisition of land.
In 2023 she took a (considered) leap to follow a long held ambition to set up her own company, and is enjoying continuing to grow her client base and development projects across Scotland.
Throughout her career, Gillian has strived to build positive relationships amongst the complex and often contentious nature of planning and the built environment, with differing views on the right outcome for a place. Alongside her professional planning expertise, Gillian’s experience includes team leadership, recruitment and business growth, and future skills development. She is a volunteer STEM and RTPI Ambassador, championing planning and built environment careers to school students. She has also been a mentor for women returning to the workplace after an extended career break.
Originally from Edinburgh, Gillian has made Ayrshire home ever since her first graduate job and loves living by the coast with her family. She has two school age children, which has led to her becoming a girls rugby coach! Music has been a lifelong interest, and she is proud to be a flautist with the Ayrshire Symphony Orchestra.
