The Friday Five 04.02.22
It’s the first fabulous Friday Five of February and we’ve discovered alliteration it seems. Of course you’ll be familiar with the assertion that alliteration is the last refuge of the illiterate. Like we care. Here are some planning possibilities for you to peruse (see what I did there?).
1. CONSENTING AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES, SSEN TRANSMISSION
Location: Scotland (flexible working options)
The job: SSEN Transmission owns and operates the electricity transmission network in the north of Scotland. We currently have a range of consenting and environmental management opportunities within our capital development and delivery department.
“In these roles, you will support the delivery of major, large-scale terrestrial transmission infrastructure, working on projects that directly facilitate Scotland's ambitions to meet net zero.
“Key responsibilities will include securing planning permission and electricity act consents for nationally significant electricity infrastructure projects; leading on and site appraisals and optioneering studies; managing external consultants to deliver proportionate and robust environmental impact assessments and appraisals.”
Fun fact: The Isle of Skye, the northernmost of Scotland’s Inner Hebrides islands, is the birthplace of street trials and mountain biker Danny MacAskill and provides the mountainous playground for daredevil videos that have made him incredibly popular online and a darling of brands, advertisers and filmmakers.
The island is noted for its dramatic rocky landscape radiating outwards from the Cuillin, a central mountainous hub that provides the location for many of MacAskill’s most daring rides.
Born in Dunvegan, Skye, in 1985, MacAskill first came to prominence with a 2009 street trials video filmed by his flatmate that showed off some of his extravagant cycling skills. It became so popular that MacAskill was able to give up his day job and become a professional rider, appearing in music videos, advert and representing brands while continuing to set himself every more daring targets for professionally filmed videos.
Among the most popular of these are The Ridge, which features the cyclist riding along the steep, narrow and very dangerous Cuillin ridge. More recently, The Slabs shows a terrifying ride down a 500-metre section the remote Dubh Slabs which rise out from Loch Coruisk on the Isle of Skye.
2. DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT ROLES, ROTHER DISTRICT COUNCIL
Location: Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex
The job: A number of positions are available within the council’s strategy and planning service:
• Planning team leader – development management
• Principal planning officers – development management
• Senior planning officers – development management
• Planning officers – development management
• Planning assistants – development management
“Rother District Council is an ambitious council at the heart of 1066 country in East Sussex. Based in Bexhill-on-Sea the district also covers the historic towns of Battle and Rye as well as a large, attractive rural area, predominantly falling within the High Weald AONB. Rother is a vibrant and inclusive district and we are looking for forward thinking planning professionals to join our talented and enthusiastic planning team.The post holders will join the team at an exciting time and whether you are a planning manager, officer or trainee you will understand that you have an important role to play in helping us to shape Rother.”
Fun fact: Bexhill-on-Sea has history with offbeat comedians, having been the army training base for a young Spike Milligan, who memorably recorded his time in the town in the first volume of his war memoirs, Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall. He rather cruelly (but possibly accurately) described it as ‘the only cemetery above ground”.
It’s also the home of Eddie Izzard, the stand-up comedian, actor, writer and activist who has lived in the town since the age of seven and describes it as the place where she (yup, we’ll come to that) has “the greatest affinity”.
Indeed, she’s helped fund the revamp of the town’s museum (including donating her fantastic model railway to the museum), held benefit shows for the famous De La Warr Pavilion and campaigned to save its historic cinema.
Between times she’s built a successful career as notably whimsical stand-up comedian and actor who has built an extensive list of TV, film and theatre credits (including The Lego Batman Movie - come on!). Oh, she also ran 27 marathons in 27 days in South Africa for Sport Relief.
So, why ‘she’? Well, Izzard describes herself as ‘genderfluid’, has previously identified as transvestite and ‘a lesbian trapped in a man’s body’, while regularly performing her stand-up in a dress. In 2019 she said she was comfortable being described as ‘he’ or ‘she’ depending on how she felt that day; as of 2020 she has said she “wants to be based in girl mode from now on”. So there you have it.
3. ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OFFICER / SENIOR ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OFFICER, DORSET COUNCIL
Location: Dorchester, Dorset (with home working)
The job: “Our strategic planning team is preparing a new local plan for the whole of Dorset. In such an environmentally rich and sensitive area, it is vital to ensure that environmental and sustainability matters are fully considered in the plan-making process, and the environmental assessment officers work alongside the planning officers to make sure that this happens.
“You'll be working within a friendly and supportive team, part of the spatial planning service that includes colleagues from a range of professional disciplines. You'll be one of two environmental assessment officers, tasked with preparing the sustainability appraisal and strategic environmental assessment for the plan, as well as providing a wide range of environmental advice on habitats regulations matters, mitigation, and environmental impact assessment requirements on planning applications. You'll also work with the council's natural environment team on these issues.”
Fun fact: George ‘Hanging Judge’ Jeffreys earned his unpleasant nickname from his behaviour during the infamous Bloody Assizes in Dorchester in 1685.
As a Protestant Lord Chancellor under a Catholic King, James II, he presided over the trial of the Duke of Monmouth, an illegitimate son of the previous monarch (Charles II a Protestant) who had led an uprising against the monarch.
Holding the trials in the Oak Room at Dorchester’s Antelope Hotel, Jeffreys was brutal in his judgements and penalties, handing down death sentences for 251 rebels. Even at the time this was regarded as outrageous. Although only 74 executions were actually carried out, they were horrific, the condemned being publicly hung, drawn and quartered and their heads displayed on spikes round Dorchester and surrounding towns. The remainder of the traitors were transported to the West Indies (and most likely died en route).
It’s been suggested that Jeffreys was so severe in his judgements because he was a Protestant serving a Catholic king and didn’t want his loyalty to the monarch to be doubted in any way.
Jeffreys had been born into an aristocratic family in Wrexham in 1645 and began studying law in 1668. With a knack for making powerful friends, he quickly became a favourite of the Duke of York (the future James II) and his ascent was rapid. In 1685 he was appointed Lord Chancellor.
If anything, his demise was more rapid than his ascent. When James II was ousted in 1688, Jeffreys was forced to go on the run, disguised as a sailor. Recognised - ironically - by someone whose life he had spared at the Bloody Assizes, he was captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London, where he died of kidney disease in 1689.
4. SENIOR PLANNER AND ASSOCIATE (FULL-TIME/PART-TIME), LAWSON PLANNING PARTNERSHIP LTD
Location: Colchester, Essex
The job: “We are seeking commercially minded professionals with either private or public sector backgrounds, keen to progress and make a difference in our expanding business.
“We are an independent town planning consultancy located within a prestigious Grade I listed building complex in central Colchester. We have a broad private and public sector client base and specialise in advising on and managing high profile strategic and local planning schemes. Owing to an expanding number of instructions and maternity cover we are seeking to recruit forward thinking, well organised and motivated professionals to join the team.”
Fun fact: In 2004 archaeologists discovered the remains of the only known Roman Circus in Britain while excavating beneath an old garrison in Colchester. Colcehster, as Camulodunum, had been the Roman capital of Britain until it was destroyed during Boudicca’s rebellion in 61CE. The circus would have been built after that date.
Nowadays we think of a circus as a place where acrobats, clowns and the like entertain us in a big tent. In Roman times, a circus was a stadium used for chariot racing. It was both phenomenally popular (for the best part of a thousand years) and phenomenally dangerous - charioteers rarely had long lives.
The Colchester circus is thought to have been able to hold 8,000 spectators seated around a long oval track.
The origins of chariot racing go way back. It’s thought the Romans adopted it from the Greeks, who had introduced it to the Olympic Games as long ago as 680BCE. Whatever, at the height of the Roman Empire, it was a mass spectator sport and charioteers could become famous and lauded. This was ironic, since being a charioteer was looked down on; they were regarded as infames, which automatically disqualified them from many of the privileges, protections and dignities of full citizenship, and placed them in a socially despised category that included undertakers, pimps, butchers, executioners, heralds and various paid entertainers such as gladiators and actors.
Nevertheless, they routinely risked their lives for the entertainment of baying crowds who could number in their tens of thousands. Racing was fast, furious and incredibly dangerous: Roman drivers wrapped the reins round their waist, steered using their body weight and kept their hands free for their whip and, presumably, to fend off rivals. A driver who became entangled in a crash therefore risked being dragged along the track and so he would carry carried a curved knife (falx) to cut the reins when necessary. They weren’t known for living long, healthy lives.
Visitors to Colchester can nowadays walk the outline of the circus site and examine the reconstructed stumps of the starting gates and central gateway.
5. SENIOR DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT PLANNER, PETERBOROUGH CITY COUNCIL
Location: Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
The job: “We’re looking to hire an individual who is ready to move into the role of senior development management planner.
“You’ll be dealing with a more complex caseload of minor and small-scale major applications, pre-application advice and appeals. This is a role that will offer breadth and depth to your career development tackling a wide range of application types. We are looking for someone who is hard working, enthusiastic and can fit into a team that thrives on collaboration. The planning team is recognised within the council as being vital to the continued growth of the city and you will play a part in that.
“Peterborough is a unique combination of a new town with a historic medieval core that has ambitious plans for the future. It is currently experiencing considerable investment in the city centre, including a new university, and experiencing the growth of new urban extensions on the edge of the city.”
Fun fact: Peterborough United FC are nicknamed ‘The Posh’, apparently on account of the club’s first ever manager, Pat Tirrell, declaring in 1921 that he was “looking for posh players for a posh new team”. Tirrell at the time was manager of Fletton United. When in 1923, the club applied to join the locally prestigious Southern League they added Peterborough to their name to attract backing from businesses based in Peterborough.
Peterborough & Fletton United went bankrupt in 1932 and the current incarnation - simply Peterborough United - rose from the ashes of that event, keeping The Posh as a nickname.
Of course, the football club is not the only well-known entity to go by the name of Posh. In 2002 Spice Girl Victoria Beckham - aka ‘Posh Spice’ - tried to prevent the football club from registering their nickname Posh with the UK Patent Office for use on merchandise. Beckham argued that Posh had become “synonymous with her on a worldwide basis”. She was unsuccessful in her claim and The Posh lived to play another day.
Image credits | Anatoliy Gleb, Shutterstock; Ms Jane Campbell, Shutterstock; iStock; Begir, Shutterstock; Michael715, Shutterstock
