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The Friday Five 1.10.21

Published on: 1 Oct 2021

Happy October! It's the tenth month of the year. Did you know that ten divided by two equals five? Oh, you did? Oh, ok. Well, anyway, here are five jobs for you to ponder today (Friday).

1. PLANNING OFFICER, HASTINGS BOROUGH COUNCIL

Location: Hastings, East Sussex

The job: "We have an exciting opportunity to join our development team. As a planning officer you will be assessing planning applications, advising on pre- applications and defending us at appeal. With excellent communication skills you’ll assume responsibility for effective negotiation and resolution, supporting growth and regeneration that reflects the council’s wider positive objectives and policies of promoting high quality and innovative development while protecting the environment and conserving the historic character of the borough.

"In June 2021, Hastings Borough Council was awarded £24.3 million from the Government’s Towns Fund. This will kickstart the re-set button for Hastings and its regeneration ambitions. Hastings £24.3m investment includes a new green and Low Carbon Centre of Excellence that will provide new commercial space while also helping the town seize the opportunities of the emerging green economy. It will also boost the town’s tourism offer through improvements to the castle and other public spaces."

King Harold [square]Fun fact: Legend has it that the body of Harold Godwinson - the famed King Harold defeated at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 - was identified after the battle by a tattoo above his heart that read 'Edith and England'. Edith was Harold's wife Edith Swanneck or Edith the Fair.

Evidence for Harold's tattoo is actually rather scant and seems to have developed from an account of his identification in which  it was said that, his face being unrecognisable, he could only be identified by "Certain marks on his body". Another source suggests that Edith identified her husband's body by some private mark known only to her.

Even if he were tattooed, Harold would be not be the only royal to have their body decorated in some way. In 1862 Prince Albert (later King Edward VII) got a tattoo of a Jerusalem cross on his arm during a visit to Jerusalem. Because we were as slavishly dedicated to the foibles of royalty then as we are now, this apparently sparked new interest in tattoos across Europe. 

A couple of decades later, Albert's sons, the Duke of Clarence and the Duke of York (later King George V), had dragons tattooed on their arms during a visit to Japan. If you're a Hello reader you can nowadays read all about the tattoos sported by extremely minor members of European royal families, as if that's important or something.

Find out more and apply

2. PROGRAMME DIRECTOR: HEMEL GARDEN COMMUNITIES, DACORUM BOROUGH COUNCIL

Location: St Albans, Hertfordshire

The job: "Hemel Garden Communities is an ambitious regeneration and development programme that will create green, connected and beautiful new neighbourhoods which will help to transform Hemel Hempstead and bring positive impacts to surrounding communities in St Albans District and Hertfordshire overall. We are now looking for a capable and accomplished individual to play the key role in lifting this vision off the page and bringing it to life. Someone who can build consensus among partners and momentum behind projects; who can ensure we allocate our resources where they will have the most impact; and who can articulate and lead a clear delivery path for our transformational outcomes: 11,000 new homes and 10,000 new jobs.

"This is a role that requires exceptional relationship management and negotiation skills. You will need to work through different perspectives and priorities, while maintaining a sense of pace and purpose. You’ll need to have a good understanding of strategic Planning issues (though a Planning qualification isn’t an essential requirement), you will know how to bring forward large-scale development and you will be able to champion sustainable development and exemplar placemaking."

Ryder Cup spectators [square]Fun fact: As the dust (or sand from the bunker) settles on another keenly contested Ryder Cup, its worth thinking about the competition's founder -  Samuel Ryder, a seed merchant from St Albans.

Ryder had originated the idea of selling garden seeds in penny packets and became a wealthy man as a result. Aged 50 in 1908, he took up golf and became so enamoured of his new passion that he began donating to his local golf club and sponsoring events. 

In 1926, Ryder sponsored an informal match between teams of professionals from Britain and America at Wentworth Golf Club. Proving popular, this led to the first official Ryder Cup match at Worcester Country Club in Massachusetts, USA, in 1927 - with a trophy paid for by Samuel Ryder.

The format has changed little over the years, though the British team became a European team in 1979 and the scale of interest in the event has grown exponentially. The competition is now fiercely - sometimes controversially - contested. Ryder died in 1936, aged 77.

Find out more and apply

3. SENIOR PLANNING OFFICER, ROTHERHAM METROPOLITAN BOROUGH COUNCIL

Location: Rotherham, South Yorkshire

The job: "Rotherham is a top performing planning authority: winner of the RTPI planning excellence award in 2018, an adopted local plan and top of the government’s league table for planning application performance. That’s what makes planning services at Rotherham different; we have talented, passionate people, determined to do their best work for Rotherham, influencing and helping to shape the borough.

"The council has an exciting opportunity for a senior planning officer within its planning policy team. You will work within the planning policy team to lead on local planning work, with responsibilities to indclude:

  • Leading on the preparation, adoption and review of statutory development plan
  • Maintaining an up-to-date evidence base to support the development of the council’s local plan
  • Meeting the council’s statutory responsibilities for the current and future neighbourhood plans in the borough.

"You will play an active role in shaping Rotherham’s sustainable development: meeting the key challenges of continuing the Borough’s regeneration, growing the local economy and providing new homes while preserving the best of its environment and responding to climate change."

Screw henge [square]Fun fact: Steel Henge (not pictured left) is a metal replica of Stonehenge on the site of a former Templeborough steelworks, just outside Rotherham.

The 30 metre circle of plinths and crossbeams was made of 60 tonnes of huge iron (not steel!) ingots found on the site when it was being turned into a nature reserve as part of a post-industrial flood alleviation scheme.

Like Stonehenge, Steel Henge is positioned to reflect the solstice and shadows line up with grooves on the metal ingots.

The five hectare wetland and flood storage area, known as Centenary Park, is a joint venture of Rotherham Council, the Environment Agency and Sheffield Wildlife Trust, which manages the site. Built on the floodplain of the River Don, the park relieves the risk of flooding in Rotherham town centre. 

Find out more and apply

4. PLANNERS AND SENIOR PLANNERS, STRATFORD-ON-AVON DISTRICT COUNCIL

Location: Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire

The job: "SENIOR PLANNERS: We are looking for two senior planners to work within our senior planners and implementation teams.  You will either already be a senior planner or an experienced planner who is ready to take the next step up. The teams deal with all major applications submitted in the district, including town centre regeneration schemes, major site allocations, HS2, and two new large settlements including a garden village. A wonderfully varied caseload is available across a range of rural and urban sites with an opportunity to expand your planning skills and improve the built environment of Stratford-on-Avon District."

"PLANNERS: We are looking for two full time planners. The team deals with the majority of minor applications submitted in the district and supports the senior and implementation teams where appropriate.

"We are delivering large numbers of houses on sites of up to 10 and we are looking for someone who can add value to a layout, find good design solutions and improve the built environment of Stratford-on-Avon district."

David Garrick [square]Fun fact: One of the most significant moments in the rise of 'bardolatry' was the Shakespeare Jubilee, held in Stratford-upon-Avon between 6 and 8 September 1769. The event is considered to have had a major impact on the establishment of Shakespeare as England's national poet - though it was almost ruined by terrible weather.

The Shakespeare Jubilee was conceived by the actor and theatre manager David Garrick, who was Britain's most famous and influential Shakespearean actor of the period. His idea was for a three day celebration of the writer's work with London's cultural, political and economic elite in attendance. 

The event included construction of a large rotunda which could hold 1,000 spectators. Things started fine, with cannons and church bells and a huge dinner. The second day, however, was disrupted by heavy rains which flooded the rotunda, though a statue unveiling and a masquerade went ahead.

On day three, the event's crescendo- a grand Shakespeare pageant - had to be cancelled because of the continuing heavy rain.

Remarkably, no Shakespeare plays were performed during the Jubilee. But it did have an enormous effect on the perception and popularity of Shakespeare, catapulting him into the top rank of English playwrights and poets. Nowadays, of course, Stratford-upon-Avon is Shakespeare central, a seething hub of bardolatry.

Find out more and apply

5. SPATIAL PLANNING MANAGER (POLICY), WILTSHIRE COUNCIL

Location: Trowbridge, Wiltshire

The job: "As part of the spatial planning management team, you will lead a dynamic team of planning officers on the development, implementation and review of planning policy across Wiltshire. One of your first priorities will be to progress the Wiltshire local plan review through to formal consultation, examination and adoption, as well as supporting Wiltshire’s communities in the development of their neighbourhood plans. Leadership is an important element of the role. You will be tasked with directing, developing and mentoring a team of professional planning officers focused on the sustainable development of Wiltshire.

"Leading by example, you will be responsible for managing significant projects and will work extensively with the private and public sector to maximise the positive impact of development. You will also have an influential role in developing policy and procedures with the planning team, in addition to advising the head of service and deputising on their behalf."

Sir Isaac Pitman [square]Fun fact: Trowbridge was the birthplace, in 1813, of Sir Isaac Pitman, an English language teacher and creator of the Pitman system of shorthand.

The system, first proposed in 1837, emerged from Pitman's passion for spelling reform of the English language. He produced many pamphlets on the subject during his lifetime and apparently adopted the motto "time saved is life gained" - one well served by the phonetic shorthand system of writing he unveiled in 1837.

He dedicated much of the rest of his life to improving, promoting and teaching the system through his own company, during which he also created what is considered the first distance education course. In addition to being an advocate of spelling reform, Pitman was an enthusiastic Swedenborgian (it's a Christian sect) and a dedicated vegetarian, becoming vice-president of the Vegetarian Society. He lived to the healthy age of 84.

Find out more and apply

Image credits | Chris Dorney, Shutterstock; James Marvin Phelps, Shutterstock; Volker Heisterkamp, Shutterstock; Everett Collection, Shutterstock; iStock