The Friday Five 25.02.22
It's the Friday Five, our weekly curation of top town planning jobs as featured on Planner Jobs. Curation. Yeah, right.
1. PRINCIPAL PLANNING OFFICER (POLICY), HINCKLEY AND BOSWORTH BOROUGH COUNCIL
Location: Hinckley, Leicestershire
The job: “Whilst leading your team by example, you’ll take the lead on preparing the borough’s next local plan, helping to shape the future of the borough and play a key role in the wider cross-boundary strategic planning agenda. With the level of planned future growth and investment, your work will be interesting and varied and provide the challenges you’ve been looking for.
“The borough offers a wide range of rural planning issues and neighbourhood planning is a key priority. The team works closely with colleagues across planning so you will be involved in a broad range of planning and regeneration projects. We will look to you for ideas to make our service better and help you capitalise on your interest to work with our local communities and other stakeholders to deliver the council’s priorities.”
Fun fact: Sir Wolstan Dixie, 4th Baronet of Market Bosworth, is described by Wikipedia as “among the most colourful of the Dixie Baronets of Market Bosworth”. This may be an understatement.
Born at Bosworth Hall (pictured) in 1700, he was made Sheriff of Leicestershire in 1727, meaning he was basically responsible for law enforcement in the county. This is unfortunate as he was a “pugnacious bully” who frequently took the law into his own hands to beat those who offended him.
Accounts are numerous. On one occasion he battered the waggoner of a neighbouring squire who drove across his land (the neighbour got revenge); on another, he is said to have inadvertently killed his own daughter after she walked into a man trap Dixie had set on his estate that was intended for her secret suitor, of whom the Baron disapproved.
As chief trustee of the local Dixie Grammar School school, he had “complete control” over appointments. These included a young and impoverished Samuel Johnson, who Dixie treated as a domestic servant until Johnson walked. Later on, he apparently appointed his butler as headmaster of the school, merely in order to prove that he could do anything he wanted to and nobody could stop him.
Sir Wolstan Dixie died in 1767 and was succeeded to the baronetcy by his son, Wolstan. Of course.
2. TEAM LEADER - CONSERVATION, DESIGN, TREES AND ECOLOGY, KIRKLEES COUNCIL
Location: Kirklees, West Yorkshire
The job: “The conservation, design, ecology and trees section is responsible for conservation, design and environmental inputs to the planning and wider functions of the council, and the protection of trees and hedges. Kirklees has a rich and varied historic environment with more than 4,500 listed buildings and about 60 conservation areas, and the value of the heritage environment is a recognised and important part of the planning process. Likewise, the natural environment is an important asset to the citizens of Kirklees and the long-term attractiveness of the area.
“As conservation, design, trees and ecology team leader, your responsibilities will include:
- Providing effective leadership, management and direction of the conservation, design, trees and ecology team and ensure performance targets are met
- Supporting other senior managers within development management to deliver an effective, high quality, efficient and value-for-money service
- Maintaining effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders to ensure the protection and enhancement of the heritage asset and good practice in conservation and design.”
Fun fact: The great Sir Stanley Matthews – first European Footballer of the Year (in 1956, at the age of 41!) has much to thank the town of Heckmondwike in Kirklees for. It’s here that the Heckmondwike Boot and Shoe Works made the custom lightweight boot that enabled Matthews to play with agility and grace at a time of heavy leather boots and balls.
The boots were actually produced under the brand name Goliath and the shoe works was owned and run by the Co-operative Wholesale Society (CWS), which became Matthews’ sponsor.
The boots were so light and fragile that Matthews would go through several pairs each season. His daughter even told how he would walk to the Blackpool FC stadium before matches with lead in his shoes so that "when he put his football boots on they felt like ballerina shoes".
Matthews famously kept himself at a level of fitness beyond his contemporaries and played as a professional to the age of 50. Goliath Footwear – which had been founded by the CWS in 1880 – was mostly involved in creating specialist boots for the workplace and its clients British Aerospace, the Ministry of Defence, Rolls Royce, and the Coal Board. Goliath was also the first company to develop a boot designed to resist the cut of a chain saw.
In 2003 the Co-operative Wholesale Society sold Goliath Footwear. But the company still continues to operate in nearby Cleckheaton. It doesn’t make football boots, but it does make amazing ‘foundry boots’ that can withstand molten metal splashes as high as 1400°C. Goliath indeed.
3. PRINCIPAL PLANNING OFFICERS x2 (DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT), LONDON BOROUGH OF LAMBETH
Location: Lambeth, London
The job: Two positions are available - one permanent, one fixed-term. “We are looking for effective communicators who will engage with all key stakeholders and will build good relationships with members of the planning applications committee. The successful candidates will bring their significant experience and knowledge of development management, ideally from a busy metropolitan area. They will effectively manage and build capabilities within their team of 3-5 planners, senior planners and validation officers.
“Through a positive and solution-focused approach they will lead officers in negotiating the best possible development outcomes, reflected in high quality reports and documents. The successful candidates will have the opportunity to present applications to the planning applications committee and to deputise for the area team manager when required – giving them the chance to grow and expand their breadth of experience.”
Fun fact: Streatham, in Lambeth, claims to be the location of the UK’s first supermarket. It’s a disputed claim, but let’s run with it.
In 1951, Express Dairies opened a Premier Supermarket in Streatham High Road (the longest high street in Europe, apparently). This was reputedly, the first self-service supermarket in the UK, even though the United states had been using the model for some decades.
Up to this point, the correct way to buy in UK stores was to browse goods on display, queue at a counter and, when it was your turn, hand a list to the assistant who would then fetch what you wanted. Handling goods yourself was considered a serious no-no and could even lead to legal action. It was all a bit staid, inefficient and, frankly, Soviet.
If you were an American, you’d have enjoyed the privilege of filling your own basket (or ‘shopping cart’) since 1916 when Clarence Saunders opened the Piggly Wiggly store in Memphis, Tennessee. There are 600 Piggly Wigglys in the USA even now.
In the UK, the Co-operative Society (again - see above!) had actually opened a self-service store in Manor Park, East London, in 1948. But it didn;t call itself a supermarket. That didn’t occur until 1951 when Premier Supermarket opened in Streatham. Unsurprisingly this was driven by an American, Patrick Galvani, who was the new son-in-law of the chairman of Express Dairy.
Other supermarkets soon followed the new model because it was clearly more efficient and better liked by customers. Since then, dozens of supermarket chains have been and gone. As for Premier Supermarkets, the chain was sold to Unilever’s Mac Fisheries chain in 1964 for £1 million. Express Dairy invested the funds in creating long-life milk - milk being its core business.
The Express Dairy Company had emerged from The Express Country Milk Supply business was set up in 1864 by George Barham. It still exists; nowadays, owned by Dairy Crest,the company specialises in home deliveries of milk and other dairy products. Premier Supermarkets are long gone.
4. MINERALS PLANNER, PEAK DISTRICT NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY
Location: Bakewell, Derbyshire
The job: “We are looking for someone interested in playing a key role to preserve and enhance the special qualities of the Peak District National Park. As a minerals planner you will be responsible for some of the park’s most significant strategic sites, helping to manage the economically important supply of aggregates whilst balancing the impact on the park’s special landscape and qualities by ensuring the progressive restoration of sites and achieving biodiversity net gain.
“The park also has reserves of nationally important vein mineral and locally important building stone, which also require careful management. The effective management of the National Park’s quarries and waste activities, due to their size and nature, is crucial if the park is to achieve the aspirations in the corporate strategy, national park management plan and the local plan. Given the nature of development the team deals with, and the park being designated a ‘sensitive area’, the post holder will have exposure to EIA applications and associated work.
“The post holder may also have the opportunity to contribute to mineral policy formulation during the review of the authority’s local plan which is currently underway and to contribute to regional mineral supply strategy as part of the regional aggregates working party. You will also engage with members of the public and other stakeholders to advise them in relation to minerals matters and may attend community liaison meetings to facilitate a dialogue and working relationship between operators and the community.
“A further facet of the role will be the monitoring of compliance with planning conditions at existing mineral sites to ensure adverse impacts are suitably controlled and that sites are restored in accordance with approved restoration plans and to a quality befitting the National Park location.”
Fun fact: Peak Cavern in Castleton in the Peak District National Park, is the largest cave entrance in Britain, standing close to 20 metres high, 30 metres wide and 100m deep. Extensive exploration of the cave system it links to led to the discovery in 1999 of Titan Shaft, the tallest cave in Britain at 141 metres high.
Back to Peak Cavern though. It’s not always been called Peak Cavern. In fact, it was always known as The Devil’s Arse on account of the farty noises that emanate from the cave when flood water drains away. Apparently, the traditional name was changed in the late 1800s to avoid offending Queen Victoria, who was visiting the cave for a concert. It’s still known locally as the The Devil’s Arse though.
Apparently also, The Devil’s Arse was the home of the last cave-dwellers in the UK until around 1915. This group of rope-makers lived in houses built inside the mouth of the cave and sold their wares to villagers and the lead mines. Wonder what they put down as their postal address?
5. CITY PLANNING POLICY TEAM LEADER, CITY OF WESTMINSTER
Location: City of Westminster, London
The job: “The policy and projects team delivers the council’s City for All vision to deliver high profile strategies, programmes and projects. A new City Plan was adopted in 2021 and a suite of supplementary planning documents are currently being prepared to support its implementation. Work on a site allocations plan has also commenced. A core area of work is also neighbourhood planning which has a strong presence in Westminster, with 21 different designated areas.
The post holder will be expected to:
- Guide the team to progress work on SPDs and a site allocations plan, as well as ensuring the team can support neighbourhood forums on developing neighbourhood plans
- Lead the preparation, coordination and presentation of the Council's response to national, regional, local and neighbourhood planning policies and guidance
- Work collaboratively with colleagues
- Lead integrated working across the team and department
- Maintain a positive and effective working relationship with councillors.
Fun fact: Buckingham Palace garden is home to a number of sculptures and monuments of one kind or another. Among the oddest is the massive Waterloo Vase, a gigantic grade I listed urn made from a single block of marble that that stands almost six metres high and weighs anywhere between 20 and 40 tonnes (estimates vary). In any case, it’s massive and very heavy.
What’s it doing in Buck House Garden? Basically, it’s too heavy to go anywhere else. Deep breath. It’s made from a single piece of Carrara marble encountered by the Emperor Napoleon in Italy en route to the Russian front in 1812. Anticipating some kind of glorious victory (good luck with invading Russia, Boney), he commissioned a monumental classical style vase adorned with triumphal scenes that would stand as a centrepiece of a palace in an ‘imperial city’ in Paris.
Unfortunately, Napoleon got his backside handed to him on a plate - not once (Russia) but twice (Battle of Waterloo, 1815). After the second defeat, the grand Duke of Tuscany offered the unfinished vase to the Prince Regent of Britain. Sir Richard Westmacott was then commissioned to carve a new version of the vase covered in triumphal scenes of Britannia’s glorious victory over the French.
This was intended to go into the new Waterloo Chamber at Windsor Castle but was simply too heavy. In 1835 William IV gave it to the National Gallery. They didn’t want it either and the massive white elephant ended up being shunted around from pillar to post - or at least from Hyde Park to South Kensington Museum and, finally, in 1903, the garden of Buckingham Palace where it remains, monument to – well, something or other.
Image credits | A C Rider, Shutterstock; Grzegorz Wasowicz, Shutterstock; iStock; Alexey Fedorenko, Shutterstock; PhotoLondonUK, Shutterstock