Davina Malcolm – 2025 Volunteer Awards

Davina Malcolm, Planning Volunteer at CPRE Hertfordshire, is being recognised with the CPRE Special Contribution Award.

Davina is a member of our ‘planning application screening’ team. On a weekly basis, the team monitor new planning applications across all ten districts in Hertfordshire, to identify those that pose the most significant threat to the countryside. Davina and her colleagues conduct the initial research on these before passing them on to our Planning staff for further action.

Over just the past year alone, the team has trawled through more than 15,000 planning applications, and identified and conducted initial research on over 300 that were of most concern with respect to the countryside. Davina has been volunteering with CPRE Hertfordshire for nine years and during this time she has also contributed her time and energy on special planning projects, such as monitoring “plotlands” across the county—the damaging practice whereby designated protected land is subdivided into small parcels in the hope that naïve buyers will pay top price thinking that planning permission will be forthcoming.

Davina currently works remotely but for some years she was a regular volunteer at our Welwyn office and helped with a wide variety of tasks including the never-ending quest to organise and archive our paper and digital records. Her ongoing commitment and dedication is hugely appreciated. Collectively the team’s efforts are essential to our core mission to protect the countryside and this year we are delighted to recognise each member of this team.