The Friday Five 30.06.23
It's the Friday Five, our weekly selection of the best/most interesting job vacancies listed on Planner Jobs this week – plus some place-based facts. This week, town planning jobs in… and the story of...
1. SENIOR ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNER, UNITED UTILITIES
Location: Lingley Mere, Warrington, Cheshire
The job: "Reporting to the principal environmental planner, the senior environmental planner will play a key role in the delivery of United Utilities' large capital investment programme, responsible for the delivery of planning and environmental related activities.
"You’ll ensure environmental objectives, policies and standards are accounted for in project designs and construction activities. And you'll create, support and maintain strong, trusted relationships with our environmental stakeholders and approval bodies across the North West.
"You’ll provide specialist planning advice to obtain planning approval and other necessary consents in support of United Utilities' capital investments. You’ll lead programmes of work, projects and commissions including via the management of external service providers.
"You’ll deliver all outputs to the required timescale and ensure that all consenting and environmental risks to sites and projects are identified and dealt with in an appropriate manner."
Fun fact: Bob Hope. Bing Crosby. Humphrey Bogart. Dame Vera Lynn. Glenn Miller. Judy Garland. Why would the biggest names in American and British movies and music visit Warrington in the 1940s and 50s?
Well, it wasn’t actually Warrington itself that was the attraction, but rather RAF Burntwood, an airbase a few miles outside the town. Opened in 1940 as a joint RAF and USAAF base, it became the largest such base in the UK and then the biggest airfield in Europe: by 1945, there were 18,000 US troops stationed there. The base was actually a maintenance and support base for the US Army Air Force once it had joined the war and provided everything from aircraft to typewriters, medical equipment and furniture.
As was relatively usual, the respective military bodies invited the biggest stars of the day to stage shows in order to boost morale among troops, pilots and other staff. Being such a huge base, it attracted the biggest stars of the day – including all of the aforementioned. You can add the likes of Danny Kaye and James Cagney to the list as well. If you don't know who these people are, watch some old movies. Seriously, all of these people were super-talented and super-entertaining, many (like Bob Hope) coming out of the old Vaudeville tradition.
The base was so big that it had its own dance band and off-duty servicemen swamped Warrington and proved very attractive to the local young women. There were a LOT of war babies.
The base operated until 1994 when the Cold War came to an end and it was considered surplus to requirements. Most of the buildings on the site were demolished and its now mostly an industrial estate. There’s a museum and heritage centre, however, that records the story of RAF Burntwood, with a number of planes exhibited, too.
2. MINERALS PLANNER, PEAK DISTRICT NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY
Location: Bakewell, Derbyshire
The job: "As a minerals planner, you will be responsible for some of the Peak district National 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 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 authority plan, 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 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 aspect 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."
Fun fact: Eyam village within the Peak District National Park is popularly known as ‘the plague village’ on account of the extraordinary sacrifice it made during a particularly nasty outbreak of bubonic plague in 1665-66.
Nowadays, of course, we’re familiar with the concept of ‘self-isolation’. That wasn’t necessarily the case 400 years ago. Yet the entire village, upon the discovery of plague within its boundaries, went into lockdown. They were led by two clergymen – Reverend William Mompesson and Thomas Stanley – who introduced a number of precautions to slow the spread of the disease.
These included quarantining the entire village, arranging for families to bury their own dead and holding church services outdoors in astral amphitheatre where people could keep a distance between them. Sound familiar?
Merchants from surrounding villages sent supplies that they would leave on marked rocks at the edge of the village; the villagers cut holes into these ‘boundary strokes’ where they would leave coins soaked in vinegar to disinfect them. At least one boundary stone still exists.
The plague ran its course over 14 months. Estimates of the number of villagers who died vary considerably. One account has it that just 83 people survived out of a population of 350. Another that 430 survived from a population of 800. In any case, a very high proportion of villagers died during the outbreak. But they probably prevented many more deaths as a result of their far-sighted actions.
Or perhaps that whole bubonic plague thing was just, y’know, fake news...
3. TOWN PLANNER, PARTNERS IN PLANNING AND ARCHITECTURE LTD
Location: St Ives, Cambridgeshire/Hybrid
The job: "We are a vibrant and progressive multi-disciplinary planning consultancy based in Cambridgeshire with a job opening for a town planner which offers an opportunity for progress and development in your planning career.
"We work across residential, commercial and mix-use schemes so you’ll have the ability to work with a range of clients.
"This role offers exposure to all phases of the design and planning processes, giving you an opportunity to develop your skills and aspirations in planning.
"For this role, you’ll provide technical and administrative support to team members seeking planning consent on behalf of a diverse client base. The company fosters an environment of communal support and you’ll have the opportunity to develop your skills to take control of projects and client management in the future.
"You’ll also be involved in things like:
- providing commercial planning advice to a range of clients, including site appraisals and site visit
- compiling robust evidence to support the planning cases
- preparing high quality planning submissions
- proactively managing engagement with the local planning authority and other stakeholders
- representing the clients' commercial interests throughout the planning process, including presentation to planning committee
- assisting to grow the business client base and to further client relationships."
Fun fact: It’s time for a trip to Etymology Corner. St Ives is vying with nearby Ely for the honour of being the place where the word ‘tawdry’ originated. You may think there’s not much prestige to be had by association with such a low-grade word, but there you go.
There are two versions of this story, which agree on the main points but differ on an essential detail. So, the points of agreement:
- Tawdry is a reduction of ‘St Audrey’; and Saint Audrey is a corruption of Etheldreda, an East Anglian princess who became an Anglo-Saxon saint
- Tawdry describes a cheap and ostentatious imitation of something costly and stylish.
In a St Ives context, this was a direct reference to the cheap, inferior quality cloth sold in St Audrey’s Lane market during the medieval period. The story goes that such cloth was made form discarded wool and fibres and it was a popular source of cheap materials for locals who used it for their own domestic clothing. Cheap cloth from the market became known simply as St Audrey cloth and then ‘tawdry’.
The rival claim from Ely is almost the same but has a nice added detail. Here the story goes that in 1189 Henry II granted Ely the right to stage an annual fair in the name of St Etheldreda (Audrey) and the word tawdry originates with cheap lace sold at this fair – specifically St Audrey’s Lace, a kind of necktie or ribbon, called thus because St Audrey allegedly died of a throat tumour and this was seen as God's punishment for her youthful stylishness (and not just bad luck).
In any case, the word has entered the English language to describe something cheap and poor quality but showy, an ostentatious pastiche. Rather like The Friday Five, in fact, which we like to think of as a tawdry read for a Friday afternoon.
4. PLANNING POLICY ASSISTANT, SOUTH DOWNS NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY
Location: Midhurst, West Sussex/Hybrid
The job: "Are you interested in a career in planning, helping to influence how development happens within South Downs National Park? Are you good at chasing down information and statistics and presenting information clearly? Do you like designing and implementing systems that organise information and make it easily available to users? Are you reliable, organised and good with detail, but can also communicate that information to others? Yes? Then this could be the perfect job for you.
"A new opportunity has arisen within SDNPA’s planning policy team, to support the monitoring and performance of our existing local plan, as well as gathering data and evidence for our local plan review. As planning policy assistant, you will also play a vital role in implementing systems to support statutory biodiversity net gain across the National Park, helping with one of our corporate priorities to re-nature the area.
"Provided you meet the minimum criteria you will also have the opportunity to gain or improve your qualifications to progress a career in planning."
Fun fact: A hillside near Wilmington in East Sussex (within the South Downs National Park) sports a huge figure of a man carrying two staves, cut into the chalk of the hillside.
For the longest time the so-called Long Man of Wilmington – who stands 72 metres tall – was thought to have been created in the Iron Age (roughly 1200 BCE to roughly 500 BCE) – or even, said some, during the much earlier Neolithic period (around 2000 BCE and earlier).
One historian surmised that around 3,400 BCE the Long Man’s position would have marked the movement of the Orion constellation above the ridge it lies on. Another suggestions is that the figure had a Romano-British origins, based partly on an Anglo-Saxon buckle depicting a similar figure.
These assumptions were debunked somewhat in the early 2000s, however, when an archaeological investigation found pretty strong evidence to suggest that the figure was create as late as the 1600s. The earliest known record of the Long Man is a drawing from 1710.
It wouldn’t be the only chalk figure subject to much speculation – much of it wild – about its origin. Our desire to frame such things in terms of ancient, mysterious cultures belies the fact that they’re often quite modern creations and something other than a ritual purpose. Many of them, in fact, are satirical or making a political point of some kind. Others commemorate recorded events.
The nearby Witlington White Horse, for example, is known to have been created in the 19th century. This, in turn, is reminiscent of a number of white horses on Wiltshire hillsides. The oldest of these, the Westbury White horse, is often associated with a major victory of King Alfred in 878.
There is at least one chalk figure, however, that does genuinely appear to be ancient. The Uffington White Horse in Oxfordshire has been dated to the Bronze Age, around 3,000 years ago, although it is not clear that it was originally intended to represent a horse. This is also, in our opinion, the most beautiful and enigmatic of all of these figures.
5. SENIOR TOWN PLANNER, DANIEL WATNEY LLP
Location: City of London
The job: "Daniel Watney LLP, a leading property consultancy based in London, is growing. The planning team is looking for a motivated and enthusiastic senior planner to join the team. Our team has a highly successful record, working on exciting projects in London and the South East, with public and private sector clients, including developers, landowners, housebuilders, investment funds, education trusts, institutions and charities.
"We are looking for the right individual who would fit in well and can make a strong contribution to our growing team.
"The role will involve:
- Undertaking planning and development appraisals in respect of commercial, residential and institutional properties, and strategic land. Working on planning projects of various sizes including planning appraisals, site promotion, applications and appeals
- Preparing and submission of planning applications
- Managing internal and external project teams
- Preparing and assisting with appeals
- Writing representations to emerging planning policy and site promotion activities
- Good working knowledge of the technical aspects of planning, including both legislation and policy, at local, regional and national levels
- Building and maintaining strong client relationships
- Supporting wider commercial aims of Daniel Watney and the planning team, contributing to wider business development activities.
Fun fact: Fleet Street (where Daniel Watney LLP is based) is synonymous with publishing and the press, despite the fact that the national newspapers that once dominated the street moved out decades ago. But it’s a reputation of long standing and can be dated back as far as 1500 and is built on another long-standing association with Fleet Street: the law.
Publishing as an industry began in Fleet Street within couple of decades of William Caxton’s invention of the printing press in neighbouring Westminster. In 1500, his apprentice, Wynkyn de Worde, opened a printing shop in Shoe Lane, at one end of Fleet Street, while Richard Pynson set up as a publisher and printer by St Dunstan’s Church at the other end of the street. More followed, mainly supplying the well-established legal trade at the Inns of Court on Fleet Street.
1702 saw the publication of London’s first daily newspaper, the Daily Courant, from Fleet Street. From there the industry just grew and grew. By the 20th century, Fleet Street and the area surrounding it were dominated by the national press and related industries. This was the height of the British newspaper industry. The Daily Express, for example, moved into a custom-built Art Deco building in 1931 (which remains).
Both The Telegraph and the Daily Express moved into purpose-built Art Deco buildings in the street in the 1920s and 30s – both of which remain and are listed. The Sun, the Daily Mirror, the Daily Mail, The Times – all were based in and around Fleet Street and, with the co-location of journalism and the law, the street was buzzing. this vibrancy lasted for decades – perhaps more than a century, before News International sounded the death knell by moving production of The Sun and The Times out of Fleet street and into Wapping as a union-breaking measure.
It was only a matter of time before others followed. Nowadays, what remains of the national newspaper industry is spread around London. Of the last few publishers to cling on, the Sunday Post said goodbye to its final two London-based journalists in 2016; and DC Thompson, publisher of The Beano, remains. The Associated Press maintains an office on the street, but it’s not what it was.
After some years in the doldrums, Fleet Street has recovered some vim, though it’s such more polite than it once was. The law remains, banking has a stronger presence than previously, and accountancy. Many of the pubs remain and modern coffees shops abound.
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