The role
The Town Planning Division is seeking a Business Support Officer to provide technical business support on a range of planning applications. This would primarily involve registration and validation of planning applications; updating the public planning register; basic assessment of information submitted with planning applications; processing planning appeals; assisting residents, applicants, members and agents with queries; preparing planning committee agendas; and collecting planning fees.
The Town Planning Division is very busy and the business support roles are central to ensuring that the Council meets statutory duties and performance targets to strict deadlines.
Key duties and responsibilities of the role:
- Register, validate and provide technical support on all planning applications, pre-applications, planning appeals, enforcement complaints using set procedures and to an agreed standard.
- Upload and index all plans and documents onto the planning register and maintain a clear and accurate record of all live and historic planning applications, enforcement investigations and other public records
- Perform accurate data entry into the relevant computer systems as required by the service teams
- Print consultation and re-consultation letters and support any other public consultation exercises carried out by the division including mail outs, postings on the website, publication and distribution of consultation material
- Support the appeal process by completing appeal questionnaires and coordinating the submission of appeal documents to and in communication with the planning inspectorate.
About Southwark:
We are the largest local authority social landlord in London, managing 55,000 homes lived in by 40% of Southwark’s residents. We are home to over 18,300 businesses including iconic London venues and social enterprises and we have a young, diverse and growing population.
At Southwark we are committed to making our borough just and fair and are taking positive action to tackle inequalities. Our residents and communities are our greatest asset and the passion we have for Southwark is shared by millions of Londoners who enjoy our outstanding cultural offer, use our hospitals and attend our universities. Our refreshed borough plan and focus on Southwark Stands Together, (which is our work with Southwark’s communities and the council’s staff to tackle racism, injustice and inequality) underpins all that we do.
Additional details
About You:
The successful candidates will have a good record of delivering results in customer facing roles. Good oral and written communication and analytical skills are essential. An understanding of the UK town planning system and aptitude for plan reading will be required.
Benefits and more information:
In your role, we want you to feel supported, challenged and rewarded. You will benefit from our family-friendly policies including flexible working, home working, and a local government pension scheme, plus many other staff benefits. You will join a motivated, driven and supportive team that strives for excellence and values its members. You will also be part of a successful and high-achieving development team that is making a real difference to the lives of residents in the borough. For more information about the wide variety of benefits you can take advantage of please visit our Staff Benefits page.
Recruitment timetable
Advert Closing date: 3 September 2024
Interview date: 26th September 2024
Guaranteed Interview Scheme:
As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role, and identify with one of the below criteria:
• Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
• Are currently in care, or have previously been in care
• If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition
We are an organisation who is passionate about our people and understands that richness of diversity is a requirement to provide the best possible services to our communities. This is demonstrated through our council-wide ambitious commitment to tackle racial inequality in our communities and workforce through our Southwark Stands Together programme. We particularly welcome applications from members of the Black, Asian and ethnic minority communities to increase representation at senior management level in the Council.
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