Senior/Principal Planner

We are looking to appoint a Senior/Principal Planner (Career Grade) within our Planning Strategy service, as part of a small team to work alongside an existing Principal and Team Leader. The post is career-graded and will be of particular interest to planners who are looking to progress their career and have experience in policy development and Plan making.

In this new post you will have an exciting opportunity to really make your mark on the future strategy for the borough and will be involved in all aspects of planning strategy and policy development.

As a Local Authority with a recently adopted Local Plan (April 2023), the focus is now on implementation and delivery of adopted policies, prior to a future Local Plan review in the coming years. You will have the opportunity to make a big difference in how we work and inform the future place making of the borough. In this time of a changing national planning framework, you will also help to ensure the authority is best placed to meet the challenges and the likely implications it will have on the Borough, particularly around environmental mitigation, climate change and borough wide design coding.

Fareham Borough Council is at the forefront of developing policy approaches and solutions to complex environmental issues such as nutrient neutrality, recreational disturbance on designated sites and biodiversity net gain. This post provides an exciting opportunity to help develop strategy to deliver development that complements these environmental challenges, including working with developers and landowners on the practical implementation of solutions.

The role will also give you the opportunity to liaise with and manage consultants, work closely with and present to councillors and take a lead role in public engagement as we review the Plan. The team also works closely with development management planners to advise on the interpretation of policy as we strive to secure high quality, sustainable development within the Borough. You will play a substantial part in us achieving this.

About you

We are looking for a positive, enthusiastic and proactive planner to join our organisation and play a key role in shaping the future of the borough. You will have an opportunity to really make your mark on policy development.

You will have a qualification in Town Planning or a related discipline and be eligible for membership of the Royal Town Planning Institute. Considerable experience of working in planning policy and experience in dealing with complex planning issues will be a major advantage.

The team culture is that individuals take ownership and responsibility for their workload, so excellent communication skills, initiative and the ability to work under pressure are essential.

About us

Fareham Borough Council is a local authority for the area midway between Portsmouth and Southampton. Local Government services are split between Fareham Borough Council and Hampshire County Council.

The Borough has a highly diverse character. It contains a number of urban settlements of varying size with many surrounded by countryside. The Meon Valley runs north-south through the centre of the Borough with the River Hamble marking the western edge of the Borough. Much of the southern edge of the Borough adjoins The Solent, which contains a number of habitat sites of national and international importance’ whilst the South Downs adjoin the northeastern side of the Borough.

Thirteen Conservation Areas are located around the Borough, along with approximately 600 listed buildings. The Town of Fareham contains a well preserved Georgian High Street with the village of Titchfield developed around a medieval core.

Notwithstanding the modest area of the Borough, there are a number of extensive and exciting development opportunities.

The northern part of the Borough contains the entirety of the Welborne Garden Village one of the largest housing led developments along the south coast. Welborne will ultimately provide for up to 6,000 dwellings, 105,000 square metres of employment floorspace and extensive supporting retail and community uses.

The southern edge of the Borough contains the historic Daedalus airfield which has been in aviation use for in excess of 100 years. As well as continuing as an active airfield, the site (which is within the Council’s ownership) is allocated for extensive employment floorspace (circa 80,000 square metres).

In September 2023, the Council purchased the Shopping Centre in the heart of Fareham. The regeneration of Fareham Town Centre is a high corporate priority. The Council is planning to have a Regeneration Strategy and Action Plan in place for the Town Centre by the Summer of this year.

Benefits of working for us

We are keen to enable those working for us to be individually empowered to do their job. This role will not only do this but will also provide an opportunity to gain broader experience in a wide range of development projects and to gain management experience.

In addition to this the Council offers the following employee benefits:

• Hybrid (office/ home) and flexible working opportunities
• Flexible working hours scheme
• An annual leave entitlement of 28 days for candidates with more than 5 years local government experience. In addition to this, you will be entitled to up to three additional days leave between Christmas and New Year.
• Ability to purchase 5 days of additional leave per year
• Authorised car parking
• Employee discounts