Planning

Career Path

I messed up my A-levels and so instead of going to University I went to work as a technician at a Civil Engineering Consultant. However, my team leader was a Town Planner and suggested that I go to University to study Planning.

I followed his advice and the next year I started 4 yrs of study in Birmingham and secured the accredited qualifications referred to above.

I joined Broadland District Council 30 years ago and started as an Assistant Planner dealing with planning applications for smallscale development such as household extensions. Over the years I have been lucky enough to be promoted into new roles with more and more responsibility and I am now responsible for a team of approximately 200 people that serves two Councils: Broadland and South Norfolk Councils. This team is responsible for shaping the places we live in by planning ahead for the next 20 years and defining where new development will be situated and then determining the applications we receive for new homes, employment, infrastructure, green spaces, etc, etc.

I am also responsible for the Building Control Service for 5 Councils: CNC Building Control as well other services not directly related to the development sector including environmental protection, economic growth and inward investment, community protection and licensing. I also oversee a capital programme of approximately £50m.

Current Role

Director of Place

Salary Range

Starting salary for a Planner is approximately £30k. In Local Authorities the pay is generally slightly lower than in the private sector but this is balanced out by the fact that currently the Council will pay the equivalent of approximately 20% of your salary into your pension.

Salaries will rise to over £60k for team leaders.

Typical Day

For a planner you will visit sites, negotiate elements of the respective planning applications and write reports to justify your recommendation/decision. You’ll be speaking to developers, agents, members of the public who may want to make comments or objections on an application and you’ll speak to Councillors who are elected to the Local Authorities.

You will effectively balance out all the comments for and against a proposed development and weigh these against the policies that have been written to help shape what our villages, towns and city will look like in the future, and you’ll seek the specialist advice of experts, in order for you to reach a decision to approve or refuse the development.

Things I wish I’d known

Although the development sector is often seen as being all about buildings, we should never forget that it’s actually all about the people that use and live in the buildings we plan, design, build and maintain. We should never lose sight of the fact that bad buildings can have a dramatic and negative impact upon people, and good buildings can have a wonderful and positive impact upon the people that use them.