Senior Planning Volunteer

What will you be doing?

 As a senior planning volunteer, your primary role will be analysing key planning applications which affect Buckinghamshire's countryside, including Green Belt and AONB.    

This voluntary post is part time for up to a maximum of 6-8 hours per week at a time that suits you.  You will report to our Head of Planning and you will work from home.

Role Description

• analysing prioritised planning applications from across the county, which can range from fairly simple to quite complex;
• researching relevant local and national planning policies and planning case law;
• formulating, drafting and producing formal response letters to local authorities;
• keeping our planning-related documentation up to date;
• keeping up to date with planning regulations, policy and legislation;
• assisting our Head of Planning on other planning matters, such as responding to consultations;
• participating in planning team meetings to review progress, prioritise workload and agree key messages; and
• occasionally responding to stakeholder, member and Trustee queries on specific planning applications or enforcement cases.

Requirements

• an understanding of the planning process, and preferably also previous experience as a Planner either in the public or private sector;
• an understanding of Planning policy and legislation;
• the ability to communicate clearly both verbally and in writing, with a high standard of letter / report writing;
• strong time management and organisational skills for prioritising workload, taking a flexible approach to changes in direction, and juggling multiple cases;
• the ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines;
• good analytical skills to assess the viability of planning proposals and assess their suitability against national and local Planning policy, guidance and case law;
• up to date computer skills 

You should also be:

• a team-worker with good people skills
• willing to undertake relevant training
• enthusiastic about and broadly familiar with Buckinghamshire’s and Milton Keynes's countryside
• reliable and responsible, following through on commitments.

What are we looking for?

Requirements

You should have:

• an understanding of the planning process, and preferably also previous experience as a Planner either in the public or private sector;
• an understanding of Planning policy and legislation;
• the ability to communicate clearly both verbally and in writing, with a high standard of letter / report writing;
• strong time management and organisational skills for prioritising workload, taking a flexible approach to changes in direction, and juggling multiple cases;
• the ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines;
• good analytical skills to assess the viability of planning proposals and assess their suitability against national and local Planning policy, guidance and case law;
• up to date computer skills - we use Microsoft Office and the Google Suite of applications; you will need to be proficient with Word, Excel, Powerpoint and internet search engines;
• good administrative skills.

You should also be:

• a team-worker with good people skills
• willing to undertake relevant training
• enthusiastic about and broadly familiar with Buckinghamshire’s and Milton Keynes's countryside
• reliable and responsible, following through on commitments.

This is an ongoing, mission-critical role and as such, we would hope that in taking it up you envisage being available for a reasonable period of time i.e.  2-3 years or longer.

What difference will you make?

As a senior planning volunteer, your primary role will be analysing key planning applications which affect Buckinghamshire's countryside, including Green Belt and AONB, and formulating CPRE Bucks' response. Other volunteers conduct an initial screening of planning applications for each of the Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes planning areas to identify the highest priority cases which you will then address.

This voluntary post is part time for up to a maximum of 6-8 hours per week at a time that suits you. You will report to our Head of Planning and you will work from home.

Who We Are

CPRE Buckinghamshire campaigns for the protection and enhancement of the Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes countryside for everyone to value and enjoy. We are a branch of the national CPRE (The Countryside Charity), which is a long-standing environmental charity. Our members, supporters and volunteers come from all across the county.