Area Planner (Town Planning) - Midlands

About the Trust

We're one of the UK’s biggest charities and we care for 2,000 miles of canals, rivers, docks and reservoirs because we believe life is better by water. We're looking for people who support our cause and want to make a difference for future generations. Along with our waterways, we also manage museums, archives and the country's third largest collection of historic buildings, as well as the nature and wildlife that calls our canals home. All of this enables us to provide wellbeing opportunities for millions of people each year.

Join Our Team: Area Planner (Midlands) opportunity

Contract: Permanent, 30 hours per week

The National Spatial Planning Team has a significant role to play in this by using the planning system to protect the Trust's assets, championing the many benefits that our waterways offer, generating value, and creating sustainable and accessible places where people want to live, visit, work and invest. The diverse nature of the Trust’s assets, our activities, users, and stakeholders present a variety of opportunities for planners within our high performing spatial planning team.

We are looking to appoint another Area Planner to join our Midlands team. You will use your skills and knowledge of the planning system to help the Trust secure great waterside places, which maximise the benefits of our waterways, ensure the protection of their heritage and environmental value and safeguard the integrity of critical infrastructure. You will encourage greater use of our waterways and towpaths as sustainable transport, healthy and recreational routes and spaces, promoting their significant benefits for wellbeing.

The role will be based working from home, with the allocation of a nearby Hub for collaborative working in Hatton (Warwick) or central Birmingham. This is a regional role and there will be an expectation that the successful candidate will be able to travel to attend meetings or fieldwork throughout the West Midlands waterway network and occasionally further afield.

The post holder will be responsible for managing a diverse and high-volume workload of planning consultations and planning policy matters in their geographical area. With a focus on customer service, you will engage with a number of Local Planning Authorities, Parish Councils, interested parties and communities, along with a wide range of specialists and business areas within the Trust. In the Trust’s capacity as a Statutory Consultee, you will comply with our “duty to respond” on consultations which vary in scale from EIA scale development to “minor” and “householder”.

As part of your varied caseload, you will be responsible for negotiating the imposition of planning conditions and/or obligations to address issues, reduce potential liabilities and will be expected to represent the Trust in the appeal process. There may also be the opportunity to respond on behalf of the Trust to nationally significant infrastructure projects.

The planning policy element of the role will require you to develop relationships with local planning authorities to ensure that the opportunities of our network are recognised in the early stages of strategy formation and plan making, respond to consultations on Local Plans, Neighbourhood Plans and other planning policy related documents to support the work of the Trust. This may include representing the Trust, as necessary, at any relevant examination of the plan.

For this opportunity, we are seeking a qualified planning professional with significant experience of the development management process to work in a highly diverse and increasingly customer focused organisation. It would be preferable for you to have some experience of planning policy matters.

You’ll be required to:

• Manage effectively your constant and challenging workload.
• Complete tasks to a high standard, in accordance with the Trust’s processes and procedures and within the set timescales.
• Comply with the Canal & River Trust standards and procedures.
• Comply with the Canal & River Trust’s Health & Safety policy and standards.
• Travel from time-to-time to site visits, meetings or to other Trust offices.

Skills & Qualifications

For this opportunity, we are seeking a qualified planning professional with significant experience of the development management process and planning policy matters to work in a highly diverse and increasingly customer focused organisation.

Technical:

• A chartered Town Planner (or eligible) with a relevant Masters, Diploma or Degree level qualification.
• Knowledge and experience of the TCPA &/or DCO regimes including appeals and enforcement system in England and Wales.
• Sound knowledge of planning, heritage and environmental law and regulations.
• Understanding of Government reforms & policy objectives, planning policy, procedures & regulations in England & Wales.
• Appeal experience ideally including public inquiries as expert witness and informal hearings.
• Knowledge and experience of the national planning policy framework, sub-regional spatial plan, local and neighbourhood plan preparation and review processes including examinations.
• Ability to build effective working relationships with Local Planning Authorities, Town & Parish Councils, other statutory consultees, internal and external stakeholders.
• Political awareness, extensive experience in public, charity &/or private sector planning.

General:

• Advanced negotiation, influencing, presentational, verbal, and written communication skills.
• Ability to interact with the public, customers, and neighbours, including engaging in difficult conversations.
• Experience in use of GIS based systems.

Contact & Application

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us at CRT.recruitment@canalrivertrust.org.uk. We encourage early applications as we may close the vacancy once we receive enough suitable candidates. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient suitable applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

What we offer

In addition to your salary of £40,000 - £43,395 FTE + £425 per month Car Cash Allowance (Full Time Equivalent), you will benefit from a competitive pension scheme, increasing holiday entitlement, and a range of employee benefits. We care passionately for our waterways, and as importantly, for those who look after and use them. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce where everyone can thrive. We are striving to represent the diverse communities that we are a part of and welcome applicants from across all sectors of the community.

We want everyone to have the opportunity to perform at their best during our recruitment process. If you require any reasonable adjustments - whether for a disability, neurodiversity, or health condition - please let us know what you need and how we can support you. We’ll work with you to make any necessary changes. All of our jobs can be considered on a part time, flexible or job share basis. We operate a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the role.

At Canal & River Trust, we are committed to fair, transparent, and ethical recruitment practices. As part of our hiring process, we may use AI to analyse applications and support us work more efficiently. However, all hiring decisions – without exception - are made by our hiring managers.