Associate Partner and Partner Promotions for 2026

Practitioners in Ecology, Landscape Planning and Urban Design are named Partners and Associate Partners for 2026.

Rachael Eaton is an Urban Designer and Landscape Architect with specialist expertise in public space planning, policy and design. After time in both the Auckland and Christchurch offices, in 2018, Rachael played a pivotal role in establishing our Dunedin office and has led several strategically significant projects with Dunedin City Council, including the Dunedin Parks and Recreation Strategy, Central City Masterplan and Waste Futures.

Known for her ability to foster enduring, trusted relationships with clients, mana whenua and communities, Rachael guides complex, multi‑disciplinary projects across a range of sectors. Her leadership has delivered award‑winning initiatives such as Shaping Future Dunedin Transport, Sandy Point Domain and the Waikawa Integrated Catchment Management Plan. Rachael’s appointment as Associate Partner reflects her collaborative, values‑led practice, and her commitment to work across disciplines to achieve meaningful outcomes for New Zealand's communities and places.

Rhys Girvan is Technical Lead for Landscape Planning, and has over 20 years’ experience shaping urban, rural and coastal environments across Aotearoa New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Rhys brings expertise in landscape and visual effects assessments, natural character evaluations, and complex infrastructure projects. His work includes leading landscape assessments for major initiatives in the energy, transport and infrastructure sectors such as the Oceana Gold's Waihi North Goldmine and the Omāroro Prince of Wales Reservoir project.

Through his thoughtful, evidence‑based approach and collaborative leadership style, Rhys' influence is felt nationally through major infrastructure and masterplanning projects, as well as through his active involvement in the New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects Tuia Pito Ora (NZILA) as Chair of the Visual Simulation Guidelines Working Group. Rhys’s appointment as Associate Partner reflects his longstanding contribution to the practice, his commitment to professional excellence, and his role in advancing Boffa Miskell’s trusted reputation.

Dr Tanya Blakely is a highly regarded Freshwater Ecologist and Technical Lead for Science. Her career began in academic research, starting with urban stream restoration in Christchurch, followed by doctoral research exploring invertebrate communities in the high canopies of the South Island’s temperate rainforests. Tanya's post‑doctoral fellowship in Singapore focused on urban freshwater systems, bringing a strong international perspective to her work.

Tanya plays a pivotal role in bridging science and practice, leading projects that protect and enhance freshwater ecosystems alongside major infrastructure and urban development. Her work includes collaborating with project teams and contractors to ensure roading and infrastructure projects avoid adverse effects on fish passage, freshwater habitats and wider ecological values. Known for her collaborative approach and passion for knowledge‑sharing, Tanya is deeply committed to championing growth in the capacity and capability of Boffa Miskell’s science team; and finding practical, science‑led solutions that support better environmental outcomes for our clients.

James Bentley is a Landscape Planner with more than two decades of professional practice across Aotearoa New Zealand and the United Kingdom. James has extensive experience from large multi-disciplinary planning practices in the UK, where he worked on major urban regeneration projects in London and large‑scale new settlements in Scotland and Cambridge. In New Zealand, James has led a wide range of complex landscape and environmental planning projects, including infrastructure, utilities, aquaculture, mining and large‑scale landscape and natural character assessments.

James is widely recognised for his depth of expertise in landscape and visual effects assessment and for his role in shaping regional and district planning frameworks, including leading and contributing to landscape and natural character studies across Canterbury, Marlborough, Nelson, Waikato and beyond. James is also a highly respected expert witness, regularly presenting evidence at council hearings and Environment Court proceedings, and is known for his rigorous, clear and well‑reasoned approach.