Skip to main content

The Friday Five 14.07.23

Published on: 14 Jul 2023

It's the Friday Five, our weekly round-up of five of the best town planning jobs on Planner Jobs. This week, opportunities in Longford, North Wales, East Hertfordshire, Warwickshire and Leicestershire. Plus mythical tales from English folklore and the origin of doughnuts.

1. SENIOR PLANNER, LONGFORD COUNTY COUNCIL

Location: Longford, Ireland

The job: The senior planner is responsible for the efficient management, direction and development of the planning and related functions on behalf of Longford County Council. This is a senior management role that requires leadership, innovation, agility and a commitment to customer service. The senior planner is required to work closely with the management team and elected members to deliver on the council’s strategic corporate objectives, to lead on policy implementation and to actively participate in a multi-disciplinary approach to climate action.

Annie Oakley [square]Fun fact: We've all heard of Annie Oakley, right? The famous sharpshooter from the American Wild West who toured the world with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show and was immortalised in the musical and film Annie Get Your Gun? But Annie Oakley might not even be Annie Oakley were it not for besting another sharpshooter as a 15-year-old in a shooting match in Cincinnati in 1875 (or it could have been 1881 when she was 21). The other marksman? Irish immigrant Frank E Butler from Longford, who was so taken with Annie that he courted her, they married and then toured together in a double act. 

It became clear fairly quickly that she was the main attraction – the better shot and, standing just 5 feet tall, the more striking and surprising performer. So Frank became her manager as well as her co-performer and overlooked Annie's rise to considerable fame.

He wrote articles and press releases about his gifted wife, and appeared in an early Thomas Edison film with her, throwing glass balls in the air for her to shoot. Alongside this, the resourceful Butler was also a representative for the Union Metallic Cartridge Company and as a salesman for the Remington Arms Company.

Frank and Annie's marriage was a long and devoted one, lasting from 1876 (although it could have been 1882) until Annie's death in 1926. A grief-stricken Butler died just 18 days later, aged 79 (depending on your source – he might only have been 76, or possibly 74. Take your pick).

Find out more and apply

2. DEVELOPMENT PLANNING ADVISOR (NORTH), NATURAL RESOURCES WALES

Location: Flexible within North Wales

The job: The development planning advisor will assess development proposals for potential environmental impacts across the breadth of Natural Resources Wales' interests. They will respond to local development plan and development casework consultations across several local planning authority areas. They will ensure advice is provided to customers that influences sustainable place making and supports the sustainable management of natural resources.

Knowledge and experience of the following is required:

  • Experience in development planning processes and working with the development sector
  • Experience of applying and reviewing environmental impact assessments
  • Able to communicate effectively with local planning authorities, business and the public, explaining complex issues and gaining support by influencing
  • Strong and effective self-management and organisational skills
  • Able to analyse complex information and situations, solve problems and make sound judgements.

LLangernyw yew tree [square]Fun fact: With a girth of 10.75m and a trunk that seems to be dual remnants of a once-greater single trunk, the Llangernyw Yew in the churchyard in the village of Llangernyw near Conwy in North Wales is reputed to be one of the oldest trees in Britain and perhaps one the oldest known living organisms anywhere.

It could be between 4,000 and 5,000 years old, which would mean that it was a sapling in the Bronze Age. Certainly, this is what is estimated on a certificate signed by the naturalist David Bellamy in the early 2000s. Unfortunately, though, the tree's dead core had been removed and disposed of, along with an oil tank that had been placed between the two parts of the trunk, making dating extremely difficult.

At the least, though, it's thought to be 1,500 years old.

Legends abound, of course. One tradition has it that the church at Llangernyw is inhabited by an ancient spirit called Angelystor (‘Recording Angel’); each Hallowe’en the angel speaks a prophecy telling the names fo parishioners who will die before the next Hallowe’en.

Yew trees, of course, are a staple of churchyards and have a whole variety of myths, stories and legends around them. Their presence near churches may be an echo of a Pagan, pre-Christian past; yews, being so long-lived, have long been associated in many cultures with death, eternal life and the journey of the soul to the afterlife. It’s thought that Celtic druids deliberately planted them near temples and holes sites for use in rituals and as reminders of the cycle of life and death. Christian churches may well have been deliberately built on these sites.

In any case, the symbolism is powerful and kings and queens would use the yew for staffs and other regalia of their office as a way of linking themselves to ideas about longevity and their God-given position.

Find out more and apply

3. DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT DEPUTY TEAM LEADER, EAST HERTFORDSHIRE COUNCIL

Location: Hertford, Hertfordshire

The job: As the deputy team leader, you will contribute to the effective management of the Planning Service and play a vital role in supporting the development management team leader and service manager. 

You will oversee efficient and timely consideration of planning applications and prepare committee reports and other planning documentation. Providing clear briefings to management, you will assist with budgeting and ensure all performance targets are met.

Supervising your team of planners, you will provide direction on case work and ensure a high level of motivation and discipline. You will monitor team performance, undertake regular one-to-one meetings and update training and policy knowledge when necessary.

East Herts is the 9th busiest district council planning authority in the country and offers a diverse range of work that guarantees high levels of job satisfaction. You’ll have a chance to work on some of the most interesting and exciting growth projects in our region, making a lasting impact on the future of our communities.

Doughnuts [square]Fun fact: Doughnuts. American invention, right? Weeeellll, maybe not. In fact they seem to come from Hertfordshire and there’s some dispute about when and where they were first recorded. Hertford itself stakes a claim with a recipe for ‘dow nuts’ in The Recipe of Book of Baroness Dimsdale, of Hertford, published around 1800.

This was considered more or less definitive until it was pointed out that another Hertfordshire cookery book writer had transcribed a recipe for ‘Hertfordshire Cakes, Nuts and Pincushions’ that sounds an awful lot like doughnuts some 50 years earlier.

In The Country Housewife's Family Companion, written by William Ellis (a man, of course!) of Hemel Hempstead in 1750, Hertfordshire Cakes are described thus: “These are much used in Hertfordshire, for giving farmers’ servants a changeable dinner now and then to their satisfaction; for if they are made as they should be, the men are generally fond of them. 

“To do which, our housewife puts skim milk and hogs-lard over the fire, and warms them only for mixing. Then she take some flour, sugar, yeast, and an egg or two, with the powder of Jamaica spice, and makes a paste of these, and the milk and fat, as if for pye-crust; and when it is work’d and rolled enough, to the thinness of about a quarter of an inch, she cuts it out in two-inch square pieces, and boils them in hogs-lard in a little kettle, or in a stew pan or frying pan. 

“Others roll this paste in the shape of walnuts and dress them in the same manner as the square pieces are.”

Ah, the nut shape – the doughnut! I think that's a wrap (No! It's not a wrap! It's a doughnut – Ed.).

Find out more and apply

4. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, PLANNING CONSULTANCY, WARWICKSHIRE

Location: Warwickshire

The job: A rapidly growing, employee-owned multi-disciplinary consultancy is seeking an associate director in their office in Warwickshire. You'll be tasked with taking the lead on projects within the town planning team in the region.

Established 30 years ago, this multi-disciplinary consultancy operates across the UK with eight regional offices and a current head count of 70. With growth plans in place, the business is looking to explain in the looking to expand the business in the next 12 months. 

The services this consultancy offer span across town planning, architecture, masterplanning, landscape architecture and heritage.

As associate director, you will:

  • take the lead on projects
  • prepare and manage project budgets
  • provide advice on planning matter to clients
  • collaborate with internal and external stakeholders
  • negotiate, draft, and provide legal instructions to facilitate the preparation of planning agreements and infrastructure funding deeds with industry, agencies, and councils, as required
  • meet company expectations regarding fee earning targets
  • optimise new business and cross-selling opportunities
  • mentor and support other members of the team.

Guy of Warwick [square]Fun fact: Forget Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones. Forget all your cod-medieval fantasy adventures. You should be reading the real thing: the tale of Guy of Warwick (which definitely inspired bits of Lord of the Rings and thus everything that followed).

The story of Guy of Warwick, a low-born chivalric hero who slays dragons,  giants and the notorious Dun Cow, wins the favour of an aristocratic lady, goes on pilgrimage to repent of his violent ways and ends up a Christin hermit, is a Romance that appeared some time in the 13th century and was extremely popular in England and France.

Set in the pre-Norman world, but composed in the Norman world, it bridges the two and is considered part of the ‘Matter of England’, a series of myth-driven Romances that helped to reinforce a sense of common folklore and identity in a world riven by dispute, instability and frequent civil war.

The Matter of England is perhaps less well-known than the Matter of Britain which encompassed the tales of King Arthur and which is seen as an effort to bring together the disparate peoples of early Norman Britain. then there's the Matter of France – telling the stories of the Emperor Charlemagne – and the Matter of Rome, retelling tales of Greco-Roman antiquity.

Anyway – Guy of Warwick. You don’t get scary Dun Cows in Lord of the Rings or Game for Thrones. Could be worth a browse?
 

Find out more and apply

5. PRINCIPAL PLANNING OFFICER, STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT, CHARNWOOD BOROUGH COUNCIL

Location: Loughborough, Leicestershire

The job: We are seeking to appoint a dynamic, motivated and organised planning professional who is keen to make a significant contribution to the performance and achievements of our strategic development team and in supporting the delivery of the council’s corporate plan. We will offer you plentiful and varied experience in a key role within our development management service, as well as an opportunity to gain or develop your management skills.

Charnwood is a vibrant borough with a mix of market towns, as well as attractive conservation villages. Located between the three cities of Derby, Nottingham and Leicester, the Borough’s main town and administrative centre is Loughborough. Charnwood’s busy development management team processes in excess of 2,500 planning applications each year of all types, with a vision to improve the economy, quality of life and environment as set out in our adopted development plan.

Spools of yarn [square]Fun fact: Ever wondered where the name Luddite came from, as used by early 19th-century machine breakers and which is now used to describe anyone who opposes new technology and progress?

It’s Anstey, in Charnwood, Leicestershire. Specifically, a young man called Ned Ludd – who may or may not have been an actual person – who, in 1779 is said to have broken two sticking frames in a fit of rage. It’s said that his violence was a response to being whipped for idleness or perhaps being taunted by local youths. Or, as one newspaper report had it, because his father told him to "square his needles" (whatever that means) and young Ned took a hammer and smashed the machine he was working with.

Anyhow, legend has it that whenever anyone else broke a machine because they objected to their traditional labour and skills being eroded by technology, they would jokingly blame Ned Ludd for the damage. When this spontaneous protest formed itself into an actual movement of organised frame-breakers some time around 1810, they named themselves Luddites after the notorious Ned Ludd, who was now an almost folkloric character. Their imagined leader was named King Ludd or Captain Ludd and the Luddites signed letters or proclamations as Ned Ludd.

But there's no actual evidence that the story is true or even that a Ned Ludd existed. The first reference to the tale appears a story in The Nottingham Review in 1811 – 22 years after the supposed event. There's also no Ned Ludd in the historical record, although there is an Edward Ludlam buried in Anstey churchyard, a tantalisingly similar name. True story? We'll never know, but the name and the actions of the Luddites live on.

Find out more and apply

Image credits | Everett Collection, Shutterstock; R Martin Seddon, Shutterstock; Melica, Shutterstock; iStock; Ekkaphan Chimpalee, Shutterstock