Planner pen portraits

Number eight: The public-spirited recession planner

I describe myself as a ‘proper recession planner’. I got a passion for planning from my degree but struggled to get a job when I graduated soon after the financial crash, so took a job outside planning which I hated. Then I managed to get some work experience, unpaid, at my local council which evolved into some temporary paid work in their DM team. It was wanting something more permanent that led me to respond to a call from a recruitment agent and move onto a planning consultancy.

It’s a bit more about making money in the private sector but lots of developers don’t want their name on rubbish, and with cuts local government has become more like the private sector, trying to make money through things like pre-apps. It’s not all black and white, I don’t think it’s a case of the ‘dark side’ anymore, and yet, being in the private sector wasn’t for me.

It was alright at first, but then a company merger really changed the culture of where I worked, and I was uncomfortable pushing back against reasonable requests from local authorities on behalf of clients. Some of the directors had very big egos and it was all a bit too competitive without much sense of individual freedom or public good. It was enough to push me to return to a local authority, albeit I’m now an agency planner.

I’m not getting the long-term security, pension or benefits, but I feel like I’m working as part of a team again and actually trying to mediate, negotiate and improve things for the benefit of society. I feel I’m given more responsibility and can try to directly influence a place, although being agency means I’m not too tied down. My Mum worked for the Council, and it feels like I’ve come back home.

Quotes

"[The purpose of planning?] … doing things that are in the best interest of the wider public, but part of the reason I think the system is broken is because people do not engage properly with that wider public to come to a consensus … I think the engagement is about resources."

"There is a whole bunch of consultancies out there that we would call the anti-planners that are not bothered about any of the public interest and are out there just to get money and screw people over and that’s a massive change, I think, in the whole profession."

"Generally, it does serve the public interest. I do sometimes sympathise with objectors though … quite frankly, it must be an absolute nightmare for some."

"I would just say the public interest is just looking out for them, so they don’t know how much a 13 storey building is going to affect them, but it’s our job because we’ve studied planning and we know more about it, to assess how it will impact them and weigh up the options to say that it may take a bit of their daylight sunlight out, however it is going to have a community centre … and it’s going to get us a lot of Section 106 and CIL money … They don’t understand that."

"I see planners as sort of an engineer. It’s a bit of a weird one because I feel like we have to be a bit of Jack of all trades … we rely on, obviously, our experts in the council and consultants to thrash out the nitty gritty, but at the end of the day, it’s the planning officer who’s going to have to string everything together, mediate and negotiate through meetings."

"Professionalism … I think it means acting with integrity, but also … I know I said I believe in public interest and … my values more sit in public sector, but someone else’s values might more sit in the private sector … it’s about understanding both sides … it depends on the situation and… [it] depends on the director or the person you’re working for."

"In the public sector, I’m going to maintain my RTPI membership, but I have to pay for it myself now and it’s very expensive and … it doesn’t actually add an awful lot to the value of the information that you’re giving out as advice. It’s more valued in the private sector now."

"I would say, in the public sector … although you take your job seriously … there is still time to … get on with your colleagues and again, if anyone needs help. I think, maybe in the private sector, it’s more like … you must get on with it and you must do it as quickly as possible, otherwise you’re wasting time and that means you’re wasting money."

Notes

  • Entered the profession around the time of the financial crash

  • Has worked for multiple organisations. Currently works in the public sector but this may be as agency rather than permanent staff

  • Probably has experience of working in the private sector but may feel more comfortable working in the public sector. May well contrast their role in local government with their experiences in a consultancy

  • May think that professionalism depends on who you work for

  • Understands the role of planning as about negotiating to try and secure some public benefit from development and pulling things together