Principal Town Planner (HS2)

Overview:

The post holder will work as an integral part of the HS2 team to provide a high quality and efficient planning service to the team. As an expert in their field, the post holder will themselves deal with the most complex requests for pre-application advice and applications, and accordingly will need to have very strong analytical, advisory and influencing/negotiation skills in order to be able to advise on, and secure fundamental changes to pre application schemes in order to secure good design and the best mitigation for the Council.

The post holder will need to be able to robustly defend the Councils' decisions at appeal, including giving evidence under challenging cross examination at Public Inquiries, including managing and mitigating the risks such as an award of costs against the Council.

Accordingly, the post-holder will need to be focused and results orientated. The post holder will be responsible for the negotiation of good design and mitigation on all HS2 applications and planning applications received under the HS2 Act and the Planning legislation, for the preparation of reports, for overseeing the reports prepared by other planners and to report the matter for final decision in accordance with the Council's determination process.

Where planning applications are received, the post holder will be responsible for presenting the reports to the Planning Committee.

Main Duties:

As well as liaising with a wide range of individuals the post holder will need to liaise with representatives of other organisations at the highest level, in some instances without necessarily having had guidance from the High Speed 2 Project Manager/Solicitor;

Whilst the post holder will not have direct line management responsibilities for staff, the post holder will be the lead Planner on the Project and, as such will be leading on all planning matters on the project and, therefore, expected to support and lead the other planners on the project;

As an expert in their field, the post holder will themselves deal with the most complex requests for pre-application advice and applications, and accordingly will need to have very strong analytical, advisory and influencing/negotiation skills in order to be able to advise on, and secure fundamental changes to pre application schemes in order to secure good design and the best mitigation for the Council. Furthermore, the post holder will need to be able to robustly defend the Councils' decisions at appeal, including giving evidence under challenging cross examination at Public Inquiries, including managing and mitigating the risks such as an award of costs against the Council.

Accordingly, the post-holder will need to be very focused and results orientated;

The post holder will be responsible for the negotiation of good design and mitigation on all HS2 applications and planning applications received under the HS2 Act and the Planning legislation, for the preparation of reports, for overseeing the reports prepared by the other planners and to report the matter for final decision in accordance with the Council's determination process.

Where planning applications are received, the post holder will be responsible for presenting the reports to the Planning Committee

Internally, the post holder will have considerable contact with staff within all service units of the Council. The post holder will also brief the Chief Executive, Director of Services and the Head of Sustainable Development directly on the project on planning matters.

Leading on Schedule 17 pre-applications negotiations to secure the best mitigation following the Environment Statement and the Environment Minimum Requirements;

Dealing with the most complex requests for pre-application advice and applications, and securing fundamental changes to pre-application schemes to secure good design and the best mitigation;

Supervising and managing the determination of the Schedule 17 submissions for approval by the promoter following the High-Speed legislative documents produced by the promoter and related processes;

Guiding, supporting, and overseeing some of the work undertaken by other members of the team;

Attending at HS2 Members Panels, Community Forums, Cabinets and Council meetings when requested and participation at both informal and formal meetings.

Working arrangements:

The clients response as an employer to Covid-19 has shaped the way they want to work in the future. Microsoft Teams, Skype, and vlogs from our Senior Leadership Team have all played their part in allowing us to become even more flexible in how, when, and where our teams work. Whether you're out and about on-site or working from home, they actively encourage their colleagues to take control of their work-life balance.

Benefits:

A very competitive employer pension contribution

A minimum of 25 days annual leave allowance per year

Flex-time scheme

Discounts in local shops, restaurants, and gyms

Salary:

The salary range for this role is £48,500 to £51,500.

Next steps:

For more information and a full job description/person spec, please call Daniel Baker on 07545 546 986 or apply via this advert







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