Essex council boosts planning focus on housing

Increasing workloads at a local authority planning department have prompted the team to boost its efforts on the provision of housing and affordable homes.

Brentwood Borough Council has to find space for 5,000 new homes through a mix of rural and urban environments across a borough dominated by countryside and the green belt. 

Development management team leader Caroline McCaffrey told Planning: “The need for more housing and more affordable homes tops the planning agenda right now.

“We are a green belt authority so the pressure is where do we build housing. This is a very desirable area and developers want to build here, but there is lots of green belt land.”

Brentwood Council is seeking an experienced development management planner to deal with a range of planning applications, but focusing on larger or more complex schemes.

McCaffrey said: “The new postholder will support management and mentor less experienced members of the team, with the opportunity to help shape the future model of the planning service.”

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