The Friday Five 8.12.23
It's the Friday Five, our weekly round-up of five of the best town planning jobs on Planner Jobs – plus some fun, place-based facts to go with. This week, opportunities in south west London. Fenland in Cambridgeshire, Bristol/Cardiff, the Peak District and Hull. Plus warming stories of the famous inmates of HMP Wandsworth, the Devil in March, the Bristolian who gave his name to America (not) and the plague village of Derbyshire. Read on!
1. SENIOR PLANNER (POLICY) – MATERNITY COVER, RICHMOND AND WANDSWORTH COUNCILS
Location: Wandsworth, London
The job: "An exciting opportunity has arisen within the spatial planning service for a senior policy planner to be based within a team of professional planners leading on the development of the Wandsworth and Richmond Local Plans and related policies. There has never been a more challenging – or rewarding – time to work for Richmond and Wandsworth.
"The senior planner (policy) will independently manage areas of planning policy, including leading on local plan evidence base preparation, policy drafting and representing the council at examinations in public in both Richmond and Wandsworth, providing comprehensive and detailed policy advice on planning applications, pre-application advice requests and correspondence to agreed and identifiable timescales.
"You will also independently manage key specialist projects related to planning policy and the local plans’ broader implementation within the boroughs, as allocated by the spatial planning and design team manager and under the supervision of the principal policy and information planners."
Fun fact: Wandsworth in inner London – formerly part of the historic county of Surrey – is the capital’s ninth most populous borough and generally acknowledged as a nice place to live. The area’s literary connections are also impressive: William Makepeace Thackeray, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Daniel Defoe, Thomas Hardy, George Elliot, and Louis de Bernières (author of Captain Corelli's Mandolin) all spent time in the borough.
Even French writer and free speech activist Voltaire was sent there into exile from the Bastille after a punch-up with aristocrat Guy Auguste de Rohan-Chabot.
Historically, it has been home to artists of literary or musical bent – either by choice or coercion – as it also contains London’s largest jail, HMP Wandsworth, built in 1851 as the the Surrey House of Correction – cited in books, movies and songs from Anthony Burgess's novel A Clockwork Orange to Cool for Cats, a 1979 song by Squeeze.
Writer Oscar Wilde served the initial six months of his sentence for homosexuality there in 1895 (before he was transferred to Reading, about which he later wrote The Ballad of Reading Gaol while in exile in Berneval-le-Grand and Naples):
“I never saw a man who looked
With such a wistful eye
Upon that little tent of blue
Which prisoners call the sky”.
Obviously, Wandsworth nick was too humdrum for poetry. In living memory, musicians Pete Doherty and Paul Francis Gadd – better known as Gary Glitter – were also detained there at Her Majesty’s Pleasure, as were the late Rolf Harris and celebrity agent Max Clifford. Former tennis champion Boris Becker – convicted on fraud charges – was deported from jail back to Germany in December 2022.
The prison has also held notable political prisoners, including suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst, South African President Nelson Mandela, James Earl Ray – assassin of Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, Extinction Rebellion founder Roger Hallam, and – of course – Gunpowder Plot anarchist Guy Fawkes.
2. SENIOR DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT OFFICER, FENLAND DISTRICT COUNCIL
Location: March, Chatteris, Wisbech in Cambridgeshire/Hybrid
The job: "This is an ideal opportunity for career and professional development within a busy but friendly team dealing with a range of developments and challenges and would be ideal for individuals wishing to take the next step in their career.
"You will have an interesting and varied caseload covering various forms of commercial and residential development, as well as major development sites and other growth projects. Attendance at planning committee and representing the council at appeal are key parts of the role, as well as supporting the planning enforcement team and junior staff.
"Fenland District Council is an award-winning progressive organisation, set in the heart of a scenic and unique rural landscape in north Cambridgeshire with affordable house prices, diverse market towns and villages with good transport links to London, Cambridge, Peterborough and the North Norfolk coast."
Fun fact: Anyone who has ever taken the sleek, vaguely futuristic Greater Anglia service between Peterborough and Ipswich will be familiar with the weirdly rhythmic list of stations coming over the tannoy: Whittlesea, Manea, Ely…and our stop for today’s fun fact, the town of March.
March was once – before the draining of the Fens – an island, surrounded by marshes. Fenland is one of England’s more fascinating landscapes, with most of it lying just a few metres above sea level.
This wet, marshy region was artificially drained in the 17th century, under the investment of gentlemen adventurers – or what we now call venture capitalists, who profited immensely from the reclaimed farmland.
The area is criss-crossed with drainage ditches and meres, and can be eerie – lending itself to all manner of folklore. One such tale says that the people of March, wanting to build a church, were being foiled in their efforts by the Devil – who in a fit of extreme NIMBYism would pull their work down each night. The townspeople erected a cross to drive off the Devil, but never actually got round to building the church – which accounts for the base of an old stone cross which stands between the market and St Wendreda's Church (pictured).
3. PLANNER/SENIOR PLANNER, TURLEY
Location: Bristol or Cardiff
The job: "We're looking for a talented and ambitious planner/senior planner to work on and lead stretching and prestigious projects as part of our established and growing South West and Wales team, based in either our Bristol or Cardiff offices.
"In this role you will:
- work on a range of high-profile planning projects across various sectors, including energy and infrastructure, regeneration, commercial and residential
- lead on a range of local projects and proactively support delivery on more major projects
- have defined responsibility and client contact, from the start
- have the opportunity to work on projects across Wales and England
- be supported to develop your technical skills and grow your presence in our local markets.
"This is an exciting opportunity to further your career within a vibrant and progressive consultancy, in a friendly team environment where you will be given the encouragement and tools to grow and progress."
Fun fact: When you think of famous Bristolians who have made an impact in the Americas, you might immediately cast your mind to Archibald Leech - aka Hollywood's greatest leading man, Cary Grant. But what about Richard Amerike? Who? Only the guy who gave his name to the entire continent (allegedly).
Here's how the story goes: we're generally taught that North America was 'discovered' by Christopher Columbus in 1492. But this is a wee bit of a misunderstanding: Columbus's voyages took in the Caribbean and parts of the coast of Central and South America, and it's true to say he paved the way for further exploration and discovery. At this point it was believed that the newly discovered lands were part of the 'Indies' and connected to the continent of Asia.
It was, however, another Italian, John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto, pictured), who was the first navigator to explore the coastline of North America since Norse visits in the 11th century. Cabot undertook his 1497 expedition under the commission of King Henry VII of England, with the intention of finding a northern passage to the Orient. He alighted on and explored what is modern day Newfoundland abroad the ship the Matthew of Bristol.
Recent researchers have claimed that the Matthew was owned by then Bristol mayor Richard Amerike. Moreover, that Amerike funded the expedition and that Cabot named his newly discovered lands America after his patron.
It's a fanciful notion but one that, according to scholars from Bristol University's Cabot Project, has not a shred of documentary evidence to support it. Rather, Amerike was actually thought to be hostile towards Cabot and his expedition because the terms of the explorers royal patent would have made it difficult for Bristol's customs officers to profit from any trade established with the new lands.
The conventional tale prevails, that America was named after the early 16th century explorer Amerigo Vespucci, another Italian, who was the first to realise that Columbus and Cabot had stumbled upon an entirely new continent as a result of his own voyages of 1501-02.
4. DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT AND ENFORCEMENT AREA TEAM MANAGER, PEAK DISTRICT NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY
Location: Bakewell, Derbyshire/Hybrid
The job: "The Peak District National Park Authority protects, enhances and shares the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the Peak District. We also support the economic and social wellbeing of the communities in which we work.
"As area team manager, you will have a significant impact on the sustainable development and preservation of the south area of the national park. You will contribute significantly to shaping the future of the Peak District and ensuring sustainable development and preservation of its unique character. Specifically, you will:
- lead and manage a team of planning professionals, providing guidance, support, and mentoring to ensure high productivity and professional growth
- coordinate and oversee all development management and enforcement activities in the south area
- collaborate closely with colleagues and stakeholders, such as local authorities, landowners, and community groups, to ensure consistent application of the authority’s planning policies, practices and protocols and effective communication and engagement
- provide expert advice and guidance on planning matters to both internal and external parties, promoting best practices and sustainable development principles
- stay up-to-date with relevant legislation, policies, and industry trends."
Fun fact: The Peak District is home to the village of Eyam (pronounced Eem) also known as 'the plague village'.
That's because towards the end of the summer of 1665, infected materials from London were delivered to the house of the village tailor, Alexander Hadfield. These were opened by his assistant, George Viccars, who became ill and died.
Then Viccars' two stepsons, Edward and Jonathan Cooper, also caught the bubonic plague and died, followed swiftly by his immediate neighbours and eventually Hadfield himself.
Throughout that autumn, the plague spread. Despite a wineter slowdown, it conin tued into the the following year, peaking in August 1666 when 78 people died within a single month. Across 14 months of infection in the village, at least 260 people from a population estimated at around 800 died.
Led by two clergymen, Rev. William Mompesson and his predecessor, the Rev. Thomas Stanley, the villagers voluntarily agreed to accept strict quarantine measures to prevent the spread of the disease beyond the village boundary.
Thye had to bury their own dead, close to their to their homes, rather than in consecrated ground. They also worshipped in the open air so they were not in close proximity with their neighbours and therefore exposing themselves and others to danger.
The local aristocrat, the Earl of Devonshire, along with other neighbours and local merchants, offered lifelines; for example, merchants provided food and other necessities during the lockdown by leaving them at marked rocks for collection by villagers. In return, the villagers would dig holes a the collection spots and fill them vinegar to disinfect the money they left as payment.
Plague Sunday has been celebrated in the village since the plague's bicentenary in 1866. It's held on the last Sunday in August at Cucklett Delph, the natural amphitheatre that provided the location for outdoor church services during the plague year.
5. PRINCIPAL PLANNING OFFICER/POLICY PLANNER, HULL CITY COUNCIL
Location: Hull, East Yorkshire/Hybrid
The job: "Two fixed term posts (two years) have become available in the planning department at Hull City Council which will provide exciting opportunities to be involved in a wide range of planning activities associated with the review and update of the Hull Local Plan.
"Principal planning officer (local plans)
"In this role you will lead on a range of planning policy matters which are required to review and update the Hull Local Plan and to likewise play a key role in taking the plan through the formal plan making and consultation stages resulting in the adoption of the plan.
"Policy planner (local plans)
"In this role you will be involved in survey, research and analytical tasks across all planning issues – for example, monitoring the effectiveness of the local plan, area plans and any other issues which assist to inform policy formulation. You will help to recommend choices and solutions on wide ranging matters affecting the long-term future of the city.
"Depending on experience you will support or lead on the provision of quality, accurate and reliable reports resulting from analysis and research, including reports for committee and wider stakeholder engagement."
Fun fact: The city of Hull got a sizeable boost when it was named European City of Culture back in 2017. At the time, one particular project moving towards… er… fruition was Hull’s Fruit Market. As the name suggests, this is where fruit wholesalers once took their produce into town from the Hull riverside. Today, the area, developed over the past decade by a partnership comprising Wykeland Group, Beal Homes and Hull City Council, has been revitalised.
The area’s eclectic mix of warehouse buildings, which has been routinely added to over the centuries, is the industrially-themed backdrop to an area which has now become a vital part of the city’s central area. Humber Street, central to the Fruit Market area, won the Academy of Urbanism Great Street Award – a project we at The Planner reported on back in early 2020.
Image credits | William Barton, Shutterstock; Peter R Foster, Shutterstock; German Vizuliz, Shutterstock; Marmalade Photos, Shutterstock; KerrysWorld, Shutterstock
