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Career Grade Planning Officer (Design and Conservation)

Employer
Islington Council
Location
Islington Town Hall
Salary
£32,301 - £45,594
Closing date
15 Aug 2021

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Contract Type
Contract
Hours
Full Time
Discipline
Planning
Function
Officer
Sector
Local Authority

Career Grade Planning Officer (Conservation)

Grade: S01-P04

Fixed Term (2 years) position

£32,301 - £45,594

The London Borough of Islington is one of the most vibrant, exciting and dynamic parts of London to live and work in and to visit, due to its unique heritage and urban character and its diverse arts, cultural and hospitality offer.

Islington is a busy inner London borough, and is one of the most densely populated local authorities in England, as such it contains some of the country’s most deprived neighbourhoods in close proximity to areas of very considerable wealth. This brings challenges however the Council has a clear vision to make Islington fairer and create a place where everyone, whatever their background, has the same opportunity to reach their potential and enjoy a good quality of life.

Islington has a rich and unique built environment. Historic buildings and spaces and well-designed new development contribute to local character and distinctiveness, the economy and community pride. The borough has 41 designated conservation areas (covering around 50% of the boroughs area), around 4,500 statutorily listed buildings and a high number of locally listed buildings.

The service has an expectation for careful consideration and attention to detail. The cheek-by-jowl development patterns of much of the borough make having a solid understanding of amenity issues very important.

Ambitious and progressive planning policies have been adopted and are being further developed (emerging Local Plan) that build on long established aims to maximise affordable housing delivery, secure sustainable and zero carbon development and deliver the highest quality built environment, whilst respecting, celebrating and protecting the borough’s unique character and heritage.

We are looking for passionate, experienced and enthusiastic planning, policy, conservation and business support professionals to join our fast paced, enthusiastic, varied and inherently interesting Planning Service to support the delivery of Islington Council’s key objectives.

The Planning and Development Department are dynamic and forward-thinking with a can-do approach. As a service we seek continual improvement to the service we provide, the quality of developments and the consistency of decisions.

If you have initiative, a positive attitude and problem-solving skills then we want to hear from you.

We have exciting opportunities to join the Design & Conservation Team in the role of Career Grade Planner. The team deals with a vast range of application types and range of heritage assets and schemes of varying ambition. You would be joining a team of urban design and conservation experts, who work to preserve and enhance the borough’s architectural heritage and contribute to the delivery of high quality new development. Therefore, we are looking for a dynamic, positive and hardworking professional who will be able to assist the team in the delivery of design excellence within Islington’s historic environment and wider townscape by balancing growth, conservation and high-quality place making.

The role requires a commitment to design quality and conservation best practice.

You must possess strong communication skills with the ability to offer technical critique of development proposals, in particular focussing on heritage matters across the spectrum of application types and scales. This role has the opportunity within it for development and the service can offer the ability to obtain experience on a range of applications from minor applications to major development proposals.

To succeed in this role, you will be customer-focussed, committed to improving design, recognising and protecting the heritage of the borough and actively contributing to the delivery of a high-quality service to all customers.

To apply you will have the following qualifications: (SO1 you should be attending a recognised course and for SO2 and above, you will have obtained qualifications from a recognised course). You will also have the skills and experience to:

-              Have an understanding of the principles of excellent design and place-making and the ability to advise how applicants can achieve high quality development within a dense ‘cheek-by-jowl’ context

-              Understand and have the ability to apply the statutory and NPPF tests to the preservation and enhancement of conservation areas and listed buildings

-              Provide succinct advice and comments to officers that are clearly explained and reasoned and concluded. Suggestions to overcome concerns where at all possible should be provided

-              Work closely and collaboratively with planners and other consultees to deliver high quality design and heritage advice that is clearly explained, well-reasoned and concluded and suggestions to overcome concerns, find creative solutions and avoid heritage harm are particularly valued, particularly with partner applications

-              Have the ability to support the operation of an Independent Design Review Panel

-              Work well under pressure, have the ability to manage competing priorities and meet consistent tight deadlines.

We can offer you a lively, supportive and quality/results focussed team environment, and the chance to contribute to the transformation of the lives of our residents.

For an informal chat about these roles please contact Claire Sutton, Design & Conservation Team Manager at Claire.sutton@islington.gov.uk or on 020 7527 4936 or Emma Lawrence, Deputy Design & Conservation Manager at emma.lawrence@islington.gov.uk or on 0207 527 2327.

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