Planning Lawyer

We value diverse perspectives and experiences and are striving to create a workplace culture that is inclusive, is accepting of all and is free from discrimination and bias.

Coventry City Council’s Legal and Procurement Services are part of the public sector  providing in-house legal support and has custodial responsibility for public spending to Coventry City Council.

The Legal Services team offers a professional comprehensive, tailor-made service to address legal issues of every description. The team is highly motivated, eager to develop and face challenges head on.

The Procurement and Commissioning team are the custodians for purchasing within the Council. They are responsible for making sure that the Council spends public money in line with its wider community strategy around the economy, society and the environment.
Our ValuesIn line with our One Coventry Values we strive to have a workforce that reflects our local communities and welcome applicants from all sections of the community. We particularly welcome applicants from minority ethnic backgrounds, applicants who have a disability and applicants who are from the LGBTQ+ community to apply for our senior leadership roles. 

Our Values are:

Our Values are:

What is the job role?An opportunity has arisen for qualified and an experienced Planning Lawyer to join the Council’s Law and Governance Service. Fast-paced and part of a highly performing team, this is an exciting time for you to join us and develop your career, knowledge and experience within this area of law.

If successful, you will be central to providing legal planning support in the delivery of key regeneration projects such as:

Friargate Business District Masterplan: A truly mixed-use destination with commercial, retail, leisure, hotel, and residential use together in one place. Friargate is aimed at building an international commercial district where innovation and flexibility are built from the ground up. For more information, please visit https://friargatecoventry.co.uk

Coventry City Centre South: The scheme, which has already secured £98m in funding from the West Midlands Combined Authority is located in the southern part of the city centre and is made up of 6.4 hectares / 15 acres (the equivalent of nine football pitches), including Bull Yard, Shelton Square, Market Way, City Arcade which will deliver new homes, a hotel, cinema, retail and restaurants along with co-working and community spaces. These proposals will create a new focal point for all of Coventry’s communities to come together, as well as drawing in visitors, with an inviting new public realm and accessible events space at its heart. For more information, please visit https://www.coventrycitycentresouth.co.uk/

Eastern Green Sustainable Urban Extension: The outline proposals for this Sustainable Urban Extension are for approximately 2,625 homes on land north of Eastern Green, Coventry, which would become a new mixed-use community. For more information, please visit https://www.eastern-green.com

The role will entail transactional, advisory, and litigious work, including s.106 agreements, planning enforcement, development management, and policy.  Development in the team’s other areas of practice such as property, environment, highways, traffic, rights of way, and common land will be expected, supported, and encouraged. 
Who are we looking for?The role will suit a detailed, focused, enthusiastic lawyer who has the dynamism to handle a busy and challenging caseload. You will need strong drafting, negotiating and advisory skills and competence with IT and case management systems and an enabling, positive approach to finding solutions to complex problems as well as the ability to anticipate and adapt to business and client needs and to appreciate risk management issues, working flexibly across a multi-skilled team.  

If you feel you have the necessary background, experience and skills to undertake this role we would like to hear from you. Please contact the Place Team Manager (Rob Parkes) on 07415 642652 or the Head of Legal and Procurement (Oluremi Aremu) on 02476 972070 if you wish to have an informal discussion about the exciting role.

When applying you will be asked to write a personal statement, which should include/ demonstrate the following:

An experienced Solicitor, Barrister or Chartered Legal Executive (Fellow).
Understanding of the law relating to Planning and experience of successfully managing a busy planning caseload.
Dealing with s106 planning and associated agreements.
Experience of working with elected members and senior officers, including attendance at, and advising planning committee and other relevant meetings.
Understanding of Planning Legislation including the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 (as amended) and the Development Management Procedure (England) Order 2015 and the ability to provide comprehensive advice to planning officers in relation to the interpretation of these Orders.
Knowledge of the legislation on Compulsory Purchase Orders and the ability to draft the associated documentation.
Knowledge and understanding of local government and administrative law.

If you need help or support to complete your application, please visit our accessibility page to see how we can assist you.

For full details on the application process please read the attached document on our jobs page labelled 'Coventry City Council Application Process'

 
About CoventryCoventry has a proud, innovative and creative spirit that throughout its history has seen communities come together to tackle problems and bring about real social change.

We are cutting-edge, challenging, youthful, vibrant and diverse.

At Coventry we are committed to excellence in everything we do. With around 5100 staff from a range of different backgrounds, our aim is to recruit and develop talented people who will focus on our customers, take responsibility, work together and find better ways of doing things.

To deliver the best services to our residents, we need the best people working for us to make a difference to our communities.

If you join us, we will provide a fantastic rewards and benefits package - to find out more please visit https://www.coventry.gov.uk/council-vacancies