The Friday Five 01.03.24
March already? Spring is upon us (although you wouldn’t know it from the weather), which means it’s time to think about change. How about a new job? Here are five excellent town planning jobs advertised on Planner Jobs this week, plus some fun place-based facts to amuse and entertain. Take a look. Make the change!
1. PLANNER, WHITLOCK & LOWE LTD
Location: Wombourne, South Staffordshire
The job: "We're looking for a qualified planner either with, or working towards, membership of the RTPI. The main purpose of the role will be to assist the head of planning in submitting planning applications and gaining planning consents for the company’s projects across the UK (including Prime Oak, Julius Bahn and Montpelier Joinery).
"This will include preparing and submitting planning applications, liaising with clients and the company’s sales team, negotiating with local planning authorities, and preparing and submitting planning appeals.
"Experience of working for a local planning authority or planning consultancy would be advantageous, but new graduates will be considered. Any candidate should ideally have good knowledge of development control legislation and practice (particularly permitted development, green belt, built heritage and sustainability issues), be able to work in a busy environment both individually and as part of a team, have strong written and oral communication skills, and be able to balance a busy workload with the commercial/business targets of the company."
Fun fact: The year 1972 was a vintage one for Wombourne and for women in science. Two contemporaries, both of whom simultaneously attended the village’s Oundle High School (and very likely shared classes), went on to become noted scientists, albeit with a different twist in each case.
Helene Hewitt, now an OBE, has become an internationally renowned climate scientist who works for the Met Office and specialises in ocean and sea ice modelling. Perhaps her most notable work to date was in her role as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's sixth Assessment Report on ocean, cryosphere and sea level change.
Her schoolmate Wendy Sadler has made her name as a science communicator who appears on television, radio, has written children’s books, and even performed a sell-out show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
According to Wikipedia, Sadler began her career as a communicator with a ‘non-verbal’ theatre show called The Experimentrics, which mixed physical theatre and live science demonstrations to create “a world of wordless mystery and fun”. In 2002, she set up Science Made Simple with the aim of inspiring young people to become scientists and engineers. In this role, she develops performances that tour schools and festivals in the UK and internationally.
In the meantime, she’s found time to write 19 books for children, to train other scientists, to continue a parallel career as a lecturer at Cardiff University, to report on STEM engagement in Wales for the National Science Academy, and to give a TEDx talk on her other passion – music.
But these aren’t the only notable women to have passed through the classrooms of the Wombourne village school. Twenty years their junior is Lydia Thompson, rugby union player and member of England’s World Cup final team in 2022.
2. PLANNING MANAGER, PERSIMMON HOMES WEST SCOTLAND
Location: Glasgow
The job: "As planning manager, you'll be part of a small but busy team handling a variety of planning applications of varying scales and complexity. The role offers a broad responsibility across all areas of the planning process, from planning policy and promotional work to development management and site delivery.
"Reporting to the land director, the role will include:
- Produce site assessments, planning histories, policy analysis for new site appraisals
- Prepare and project manage different types of planning applications
- Liaise and brief internal layout designers, external consultants and officers at local planning authorities
- Prepare design and access statements and other planning documents
- Attend required stakeholder/public consultation events
- Coordinate and prepare responses to consultations
- Mentor and train junior members of the team."
Fun fact: One of Glasgow’s most noted and fondly remembered storytellers (there have been a few) is film director Bill Forsyth, whose quirky, warm, humorous tales of regular folk in Scotland practically created a genre of their own in the early 1980s. A Glaswegian, he left school at 17 and spent several years learning his trade making industrial documentary films with fellow film-maker Charles Gormley.
A low-budget comedy featuring youth theatre actors as an group of unemployed youngsters who hatch a plan to steal a shipment of sinks and sell them was followed by Gregory's Girl, the film that made his name. The 1981 coming-of-age romantic comedy about a gormless teenager at an east Glasgow high school who falls in love with his school's best footballer, who happens to be a girl, was a surprise hit and remains well-loved 40-odd years later. Apart from anything else, it's notable (planning fans) for its Scottish new town locations – the film was shot in and around Cumbernauld, East of Glasgow, and portrays the sheer ordinariness of life for Scottish teenagers.
Gregory's Girl was followed by the even more fondly remembered Local Hero, about a Scottish west coast community's fight to save their village from an American oil company that wants to buy it up to replace it with a refinery; and then Comfort and Joy, an unlikely yet somehow totally believable story about a Glasgow local radio DJ’s entanglement with the city’s ‘ice cream wars’ (which were a real thing).
From here, Forsyth was offered bigger budgets to make films in the USA but he never managed to replicate the success of his early Scottish films, which were notable for their strong sense of place and character. Sadly, his directing career petered out and Forsyth’s last film was an attempt to recapture past glories – Gregory’s Two Girls – in 1999. However, we thoroughly recommend those first three, especially Gregory’s Girl, which your correspondent is old enough to remember seeing at the cinema on a double bill with Chariots of Fire in the days when you’d get more than one movie for your money. Sigh.
3. POLICY PLANNERS, STRATFORD-ON-AVON DISTRICT COUNCIL
Location: Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire
The job: "It's an exciting time for planning policy in Stratford-on-Avon District. Not only are we working jointly with Warwick District Council to produce a new South Warwickshire Local Plan, we also work closely with local communities to produce neighbourhood development Plans with 29 already ‘made’ and more in the pipeline, along with a range of other plan-making activities through development of development and supplementary plans.
"We're looking for a local plans manager, an experienced and enthusiastic policy planner wishing to broaden their horizons by heading up our local plans team. You'll lead the team in all aspects of planning policy work across the council, alongside the dedicated South Warwickshire Local Plan team leader.
"We're also looking for an assistant policy planner, someone with an enthusiasm and interest in local planning matters who would like to join our busy and expanding policy team. The successful candidate will assist the team in the preparation of the new South Warwickshire Local Plan, neighbourhood development plans, supplementary planning documents and respond to a variety of requests for advice and information on planning and plan-making matters."
Fun fact: Unauthorised historic building demolitions (and their reconstructions) are back in the news, and Stratford-upon-Avon suffered one in 1759, when the house of its most famous resident was callously torn down.
Don’t fret; Craig Charles’ house is still standing (although the Red Dwarf actor did suffer a house fire in 2022; “There was smoke everywhere”, observed Charles). We’re of course referring to William Shakespeare.
The Bard’s birthplace still stands in the town, and you can visit it, but the house that Shakespeare lived in with his wife and children, called ‘New Place’, was demolished in 1759. New Place was the largest house in the borough, and is estimated to have had between 20 and 30 rooms.
The Reverend Francis Gastrell bought the house in 1753, but was so fed up with tourists gawking through its windows that he decided to knock it down. Gastrell was so unpopular in the town he had to move away from Stratford. The Reverend seemed to engage in some fairly outrageous behaviour for a man of the cloth: he refused to pay his taxes and chopped down a mulberry tree planted by Shakespeare in the home’s garden.
At the time, there was no formal legislation protecting Britain’s heritage; it wasn’t until 1882, with the Ancient Monuments Protection Act that a handful of sites gained statutory protection.
4. PLANNING DIRECTOR, PROPERTY DEVELOPER
Location: North Harrow, London
The job: “We're seeking an experienced professional to join our team as a planning director. In this leadership role, you'll play a pivotal role in driving planning projects to success, fostering client relationships and contributing to the firm's growth. If you have a passion and deep understanding of UK planning regulations, and a track record of delivering impactful projects, we want to hear from you.
"Key responsibilities:
- Lead, manage, and contribute technical expertise to the preparation, implementation and presentation of planning projects.
- Provide strategic guidance on planning projects, from inception to completion, ensuring they align with client objectives and regulatory requirements.
- Develop and maintain strong relationships with clients, local authorities and key stakeholders.
- Stay up-to-date with changes in planning legislation and policies, and apply this knowledge to project work."
Fun fact: Harrow – famous for, among other things, a very posh school, being the de facto capital of Metro-land and the scene of Britain’s first fatal car accident (all covered in past Friday Fives), and for being the home of Kodak in the UK.
The American photography company actually came to the (then Middlesex) town as early as 1891, building a manufacturing plant and research and development centre that became a major landmark notable for its extremely tall 65-metre-high tower.
At the time it was the firm’s first production centre outside the USA and initially developed and printed photographs before expanding and manufacturing film rolls and photographic paper.
By its 1950s peak, the factory occupied a three-hectare site, employed 6,000 people and incorporated sports facilities, a museum and a research laboratory.
Sadly, the advent of digital photography in the 2000s more or less killed the business. The facility was fully closed in 2016 and sold to Barratt for a 2,000-home scheme, now coming to fruition as Eastman Park, named after Kodak’s founder George Eastman and incorporating the landmark chimney from the factory.
What else remains of the American photography giant’s presence in the town? Well, you may be interested int the Kodak Mural, installed on the first floor of the Civic Centre in 1974. Designed by London-based design consultancy Pentagram and made by Kenneth Clark Ceramics, the colourful mural consists of 1,000 six-inch square tiles bearing Harrow-related photographs that celebrate the links between Kodak and Harrow. If you happen to find yourself in Harrow, it's well worth a look.
5. CONSERVATION AND HERITAGE OFFICER, FOLKESTONE & HYTHE DISTRICT COUNCIL
Location: Folkestone/Hybrid
The job: "Our built heritage stretches from the windswept Dungeness conservation area to the rolling hills of the Kent Downs and everything in-between. We need a full-time heritage and conservation officer to provide valuable input into all applications affecting listed building and heritage assets, but particularly in relation to the Roman villa, barrows, scheduled monument and listed buildings at Otterpool.
"You'll need to possess an in-depth knowledge of heritage, architecture and building conservation, be experienced in dealing with listed building consent applications and other heritage matters, and have a solid understanding of related legislation and national policy.
"The role operates with a degree of autonomy so you'll also be a team player who can operate on your own initiative. But above all else, if you’re as passionate and committed as we are about our landscapes, heritage and communities, then we want to hear from you."
Want to know more about planning opportunities and life in Folkestone? Read this.
Fun fact: Folkestone has the supreme honour of appearing in the very first edition of The Planner magazine, way back in October 2013. We reported back then of planners being at the heart of regeneration efforts in the town, and on the Folkestone Creative Corner – a plan to regenerate the town by attracting a critical mass of creative industries. (Sure enough, a creative quarter has since come to pass).
Folkestone’s work today is on becoming a destination in its own right (the town was voted last year as one of the best places to live in Britain). For years it was a ferry (and hovercraft) town, the Folkestone-Boulogne route being one of the most trafficked to the continent. Boulogne was, in years past, a more attractive port than Calais with better rail links to Paris.
But then the Channel Tunnel opened, along with new rules ending duty free between EU states that ended so-called ‘booze cruises’. The A20 dual carriageway to Dover docks as an extension of the M20 further also served to push punters towards Dover.
Alas, the former Sealink and Hoverspeed route was axed in 2000, meaning no further scheduled services from Folkestone. Will ferries run again? There’s interest, but the potential for profit in the era of the Channel Tunnel remains uncertain.
Image credits | Art of Sun, Shutterstock; TreasureGalore, Shutterstock; Nicku, Shutterstock; JVHE Photo, Shutterstock; BrodiePhotography, iStock
