Minerals planner starts work at Wiltshire

Lucy Harding has joined Wiltshire Council as senior planning officer for minerals and waste.

Harding joins the authority from the South Downs National Park Authority, where she served as the first minerals and waste planning officer from its creation in 2011.

Harding’s new role will include a caseload of major minerals and waste planning applications, input to site restoration projects and reviewing mineral permissions.

She told Planning: “I came back in 2012 from maternity leave and went into a job share. Recently I found I was getting my appetite for working longer hours but couldn’t extend them.

“When the role at Wiltshire came up I jumped at the chance – one of the main attractions was the council’s strong policy allowing home working. This allows me to save on an hour’s commute, meaning I can start work earlier.”

Harding previously worked for private sector consultancy SKM Enviros based in Cardiff, working on health impacts from waste development.

She got her first job in planning at Warwickshire County Council, following a masters in spatial planning from Oxford Brookes University.

Her bachelors, in environmental planning and management, was awarded by Bangor University in North Wales.

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