Planning Officer

Essex County Council (ECC) are delighted to be supporting Maldon District Council to recruit a Senior Planner Officer on a three-month temporary basis. This role requires 1-2 days a week site attendance. The selected candidate will contribute towards delivering a high quality, customer focused Planning & Implementation department with high standards of advice and support, resolving cases of varying complexities in Development Management. The role requires ensuring compliance with statutory regulations, legislation, professional codes of practice and adherence to Council policy, delivering projects, interventions and initiatives and developing policies in line with corporate and business plans. The candidate will deal effectively and efficiently with general enquiries, pre-applications, planning applications and planning appeals ensuring cases are managed and completed at the appropriate level of skillset. The role will check and develop appropriate levels of quality and specialist knowledge with other Planning & Implementation colleagues.

Responsibilities

• Deliver customer‑focused specialist advice and services in Development Management, keeping up to date with current and emerging legislation, best practice and policy to ensure continuous development and improvement in services.
• Manage complex and/or contentious planning applications, processes and compliance, regulations and legislation, acting as the single point of contact for customers on those cases and attending appeals hearings and public inquiries as appropriate.
• Support, guide and advise Graduate Planners and Technical Support colleagues, as necessary.
• Working collaboratively with colleagues across the organisation, as well as Members and managing key relationships with partners including Essex County Council and Local Councils and other stakeholders.
• Access and accurately update all relevant information systems, both customer and back‑office ensuring that the master customer record is updated and maintained through verification and validation, and in accordance with Data Protection principles.
• Prepare and present reports to Area Planning Committees, District Planning Committee, and other internal and external meetings and present evidence/stand as witness at planning appeal hearings and public inquiries.
• Ensure own personal and professional development is maintained including keeping up to date with relevant law, policies, working practices and procedures.

Qualifications

• Proven ability to give sound advice and guidance on a broad range of planning cases, topics or issues.
• Experience of Town Planning applications within a broad range of complexity and contentiousness, with occasional guidance and support of more experienced staff, and occasional referral to principals, team manager and/or head of service for work outside previous experience.
• Ability to enforce legislation where a breach of planning control is suspected.

Maldon District Council is an equal opportunities employer and therefore all staff are expected to comply with our equality policies and help create a work environment in which everyone is treated with dignity, respect, courtesy and fairness. Staff will also fully comply with health and safety policies and procedures in force, and be prepared to assist if the council has to deal with the results of a civil emergency.