Senior Planning Officer
Job description
Epping Forest District is at an exciting time in shaping its future. We have an up-to-date Local Plan and a large number of allocated housing and employment sites coming forward now for consideration. The Council seeks to pursue the maximum benefits of new development for its residents as well as ensuring it is of the highest quality.
The Development Management service regulates the development and use of land and buildings in accordance with the relevant Planning Acts and the Council’s planning policies. The team deals with pre-application submissions, planning applications and appeals, and is predominantly the ‘front facing’ part of Planning Services, dealing with the majority of public enquiries and regularly presenting applications to planning committees.
We have considerable coverage of Green Belt across the District and we continue to receive a large number of speculative pre apps and planning applications for large scale development on proposed “Grey Belt” sites. This means that there are excellent opportunities to be involved in major development schemes and be at the forefront of shaping the district. The successful candidate will be expected to be very familiar with how planning applications are determined when located within the Green Belt.
The Senior Planning Officer post will provide opportunities to deal with a range of planning applications and/or projects and all tasks associated with the business of the Service. Candidates will need to be able to do this in an appropriate and efficient manner, as well as assisting the Council in the implementation of the Local Plan and the ambitious growth for the District set out within it.
There will be opportunities to advance your planning knowledge through training, experience and representing the service at Planning Committees, Appeals, and other necessary events.
We are looking for enthusiastic and ambitious individuals that have relevant qualifications and demonstrable experience and expert knowledge appropriate to the job role.
Candidates must have the ability to analyse issues and set them down in a variety of written forms in a clear and concise manner and be able to organise workload and tasks independently to ensure deadlines, performance targets and customer service commitments are met. They should also have a good understanding of the use of technology for the delivery of modern and streamlined services and processes.
The Council encourages hybrid working, but there is a minimum requirement to attend the Office once a week on a Thursday. The Civic Offices are situated within the historic market town of Epping, which is accessible via the Central Line and enables excellent sustainable transport opportunities.
Please refer to the job role profile for more detail on the role. To apply, please upload a copy of your CV and a suitable supporting statement outlining how your education, experience, knowledge and skills and other attributes match the requirements of the role.
The interviews are currently scheduled to be held on the 6th, 9th and 10th of November.
Hybrid working with office location in the Civic Offices, High Street, Epping, CM16 4BZ
28 days annual leave (or pro rata equivalent)
Based in the Development Management Team
Epping Forest District Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
