Local plan work prompts expansion

Additional staff are being taken on at East Herts District Council in order to get the local plan in place, and ensure there are enough staff to cope with a planning application for 2,500 new homes north of Bishop Stortford.

Positions advertised recently include: a senior planning officer (planning policy); two senior planning officers (development management); three planning officers (planning policy); an assistant planning officer (development management); and an assistant planning/technical officer (planning policy).

Some of these appointments are like-for-like replacements for permanent positions, while others are for 18 month temporary contracts.

Alison Young, development manager at the council, said: “It is a trend at the moment to offer short-term contracts.”