Internal Only - Senior Planning Officer - Development Management

We are determined that South Gloucestershire will be a great place to live and work and our Strategic Planning and Housing Division brings together planning policy, Development Management, housing enabling and economic development professionals together to deliver sustainable development in line with the Councils adopted Core Strategy.

You will work within the Development Management team dealing with some of the more complex applications received, your primary focus being the determination of commercial, employment and affordable housing schemes.

What you will be doing

• Approximately 50% of your time will be spent working on and prioritising 100% Affordable Housing and Council priority schemes both at application and pre-app stage. You will be in regular communication with the Affordable Housing Team and meet, liaise and update the AH team on a regular basis and you will be expected to develop a good working relationship with the Councils Registered Providers and prioritise communication to and from them.
• You will undertake site inspections, negotiations and preparation of reports and presentation to the Council’s Development Management Committee in order to implement the Council’s land use and transport policies through predominantly commercial/employment and 100% affordable housing.
• In the role you will lead negotiations with developers, their agents and third parties for applications and Section 106 contributions, in connection with strategic, major and all related applications to reduce the adverse impact of proposals to achieve more acceptable outcomes.
• On a daily basis you will be responsible for the planning and managing of your caseload with the minimum of supervision. 
• It will be your responsibility to attend internal and external meetings, providing advice to colleagues and outside bodies, such as Parish/Town Councils, and the public and co-ordinate and implement Planning Performance Agreements with Developers.
• You will prepare written appeal statements, present evidence at hearings and court proceedings, represent the Council as expert witness public inquiries.
• A key part of the role will be to liaise with work activities in other sections of the Council in connection with Development Management delivery, for example Planning Policy Officers for Development Plan Policy development and Strategic Major Sites Planning Officers.

• It is essential that you are educated to degree level or equivalent in Town Planning or a related subject.
• You must hold full membership of Royal Town Planning Institute or working towards membership
• We require you to demonstrate considerable experience in planning practice.
• You will have a clear understanding of planning policy and legislation
• We require you to possess a current driving licence 
• You will be an articulate, creative and innovative planner with excellent communication and problem solving skills to help to drive major projects forward. 

• We recognise that our diverse team of skilled and dedicated people make us a great place to work. We welcome applications from everyone and ensure that individuals are selected, promoted and developed on the basis of their merits and abilities.  

• We value our staff as individuals, investing in their careers and we are recognised for the quality, breadth and depth of our training and development offer, which helps make the greatest long-term difference in work.   

• We trust our team to work in the way which allows them to make the biggest difference and we continue to invest in technology to help staff do their jobs to the best of their ability and celebrate innovation.   

Our teams at South Gloucestershire Council are making a real difference to the lives of people who live, work and learn here.  

• We're building and shaping communities which people are proud of  
• We're planning for the future; building and improving the roads, railways, schools, green spaces, and houses.  
• We’re providing essential services across our communities to ensure they are safe and well maintained. 

We've achieved a great deal, but we need talented and dedicated people to ensure we continue to make a difference.

We’re making a difference, be part of it!  

For further information after reading the job description please contact: Marie Bath, Planning Manager 01454 864769.