Planning Enforcement Officer

We Are St Helens Borough Council. Located at the heart of England’s North West and with a varied mix of cultural and leisure facilities and unique industrial heritage, St Helens offers great opportunities as a place to live and work. St Helens Borough Council plays a key role in the Liverpool City Region and wider area and has an acknowledged reputation for providing excellent planning services.

We are dealing with an exciting range of planning challenges, balancing needs for major new development linked to the Council’s growth agenda, against the protection of the Borough’s greenspaces and other environmental assets. This requires dedicated officers to facilitate and monitor this growth.

Making a Difference

Whatever stage of your career, working in the public sector puts you at the heart of communities. Our workforce provides services to our resident's day in and day out, making a positive impact on people’s lives. We could not do this without the dedication, professionalism and strength of our workforce. There are so many reasons to choose to work at St Helens Council including the fantastic range of employee benefits and rewards on offer. St Helens Borough Council | Jobs | Search here for your perfect career - Home Page

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Roles That Matter

We’ve got a great opportunity for someone to join our Planning Enforcement team. Working in a Borough that faces a diverse range of Planning challenges you will help protect the integrity of the planning system by ensure development across the borough is lawful, fair and in line with approved permissions.

You will investigate and enforce against breaches of planning control, as well as monitoring our major developments. You will manage a varied caseload of planning enforcement matters including:

• Investigate alleged breaches of planning control through site inspections, research and case assessment.
• Maintain accurate case records, enforcement registers and supporting documentation.
• Draft reports, correspondence and statutory notices, and recommend appropriate action.
• Negotiate with developers, landowners and the public to secure compliance where possible.
• Prepare evidence and represent the Council at appeals, hearings, inquiries or court proceedings where required.

This is an entry level role with no direct experience necessary. We are looking for someone who will enjoy working as part of a collaborative team, who has an interest in planning enforcement and is willing to develop knowledge of planning legislation and processes. You will need good inter-personal and communication skills including experience of dealing with the public and difficult customers. You should be self-motivated and have a flexible attitude towards work as some visits may be required outside of normal office hours. A driving licence with use of your own car is essential.

This is an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic individual wanting to gain a wide breadth of experience across a wide range of planning issues and to be involved with a progressive and innovative team aiming to make a significant difference to the quality of life for those living and working within the Borough.

Working for St Helens, you’ll have the opportunity to develop your skills and experience within an organisation that prides itself on supporting its staff. We encourage all types of vocational and technical training & qualifications, including management and leadership programmes.

If this sounds like your kind of challenge and you want to be part of our dynamic team, we’d love to hear from you.

Full Job Description & Person Specification Documents are included with this advert.

Employees can regularly work away from Council workspaces (including home or other locations), alongside required office-based working. The balance between remote and office-based working is determined at service level based on operational need, however, there has been a minimum specification that staff will work at least 2 days from an office-based location.

We reserve the right to close the advert early, with sufficient applications. Apply early to avoid disappointment.

St Helens Council is officially recognised as one of the region’s leading fair employers, achieving accredited status under the Liverpool City Combined Authority Fair Employment Charter. The Charter recognises the ongoing commitment to fair pay, secure work, training & progression & staff well-being whilst celebrating employers who go above and beyond for their workforce providing an inclusive and supportive environment.

Equality & Diversity

We encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds, who share our values, our commitment to inclusion, and who will help us on our journey to transform our organisation. The Council guarantees an interview to disabled applicants who demonstrate that they meet the essential criteria for the job, as detailed on the Person Specification, and will, for qualifying disabled candidates, make reasonable adjustments within selection.

All Council employees are required to abide by the ethical standards embodied by the 7 Nolan Principles.

Be scam aware: St Helens Council will never ask applicants to share payment information or charge recruitment fees when applying for vacancies. If in doubt, contact recruitment@sthelens.gov.uk

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