Stephanie Styles celebrates 20 years

28 February 2025

Steph’s wealth of planning knowledge comes to life when engaging with people, where she has a wonderful ability to demystify the jargon and help people understand the real issues at hand.

Stephanie Styles joined Boffa Miskell after working as a senior planner for Christchurch City Council and Manukau City Council.

Managing partner of the Christchurch office, Ken Gimblett, says, “Steph and I shared time working at the Christchurch City Council before I, and later she, joined Boffa Miskell. We’ve worked together now for over 20 years.

“I know Steph to be a very capable strategist who enjoys navigating complex planning projects. She is well-accustomed to leading large, multi-disciplinary projects, and she is consistently solution-orientated and realistic in her advice. She is often sought out directly by clients, either on her reputation or by the strength of past performance."

Steph has long-term relationships with councils across the South Island and has been involved the administration and preparation of regional and district plans from both a policy and a consenting perspective. She has worked on energy, residential, commercial, rural, recreation, community, and coastal marine developments within a wide variety of natural and built environments.

James Bentley says, “Steph is a wannabe-landscape planner. Many of our shared projects have been in outstanding landscapes, including the Dolomite Point project at Punakaiki on the West Coast and numerous outings undertaken within the Tasman District for their District Plan review.

“We’ve had many work adventures together," he continues. "One particular highlight was a helicopter ride around the mountainous Mt. Algidus Station in the upper Rakaia catchment as part of the Selwyn District Plan review.” 

Much of her work is deeply involved in public and stakeholder engagement. Steph’s wealth of planning knowledge comes to life when she’s interacting with people directly, to demystify the jargon and help people understand the real issues at hand. She holds IAP2 accreditation and is qualified and experienced in stakeholder and community liaison and engagement.

"Steph is very much people- and relationship-orientated, says Ken Gimblett. "She takes a genuine interest in her clients, their endeavors, and their own success.  Here in the Christchurch office, Steph is also generous with her time in mentoring and guiding younger planning professionals, imparting her knowledge and reviewing their work." 

“I’ve had firsthand experience of Steph’s mentoring," says Morgan Fallowfield. "She has a wealth of knowledge and she always makes herself available to help and impart her wisdom, whether it's work or life-related. Steph’s is a lot of fun to work with and she is such a kind and caring person.” 

Claire Kelly says, “We’ve worked together for more than 18 years, and I have seen how much energy she dedicates to getting the right result, not just for clients, but also the environment; and the pride she feels when we successfully deliver a long-term project.”

“Steph is generous with her time, she cares deeply about her clients and those around her. She thrives on a challenge and she hates being bored!”