Principal Planner

Are you a skilled and competent planner with experience in handling complex and major planning applications?

Great Yarmouth Borough Council is seeking a Principal Planning Officer to join our team. In this pivotal role, you’ll play a key part in shaping the future development of our vibrant community.

Great Yarmouth is at the heart of a multi-billion-pound clean energy revolution as the closest place in the country for UK offshore energy sector growth.

Our inspiring programme of regeneration includes the recently announced rejuvenation of the historic Winter Gardens, a new waterfront development at North Quay and improvements to our historic marketplace.  In addition, Great Yarmouth will become a university town in 2024 and will see the completion of an operations and maintenance campus which will support the offshore energy sector.   The Borough will also benefit from a brand-new hospital and major housing and employment developments.

With these strategic projects and issues as diverse as economic regeneration, housing need, coastal change, internationally protected habitats and flood risk, Great Yarmouth is the perfect place for a planner to get experience of unique and interesting planning applications and other casework. 

Now is an exciting time to join the Great Yarmouth Borough Council as a Principal Planning Officer. The Council has recently become one of the first local authorities in the country to adopt a Borough-wide Design Code which is already helping to improve the quality of design in the area.  A new Local Plan is under preparation and there will be an opportunity to contribute to this and help deliver it. Additionally, new modern planning software is on the horizon which will help streamline our processes and enable us to deliver high-quality customer service.

The ideal candidate will have significant experience in processing planning applications including advanced and complex cases. They must have a degree or equivalent qualification in subject of relevance to town planning (such as town planning, geography, environmental science, architecture, law, economics, sociology etc) and eligible to be a full chartered member of the RTPI.

We want someone who is as excited about the change that is happening in Great Yarmouth as we are.  We value someone who can think creatively and develop innovative ways of supporting our growth at the same time as protecting our wonderful heritage for future generations.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council has the goal to achieve excellence for the Borough. We don’t just say we are ambitious; we mean it. We are always looking at the ways in which we can improve and be the best that we can, providing the best for the people who live, work, visit and operate businesses in the Borough.

We have big plans for the future and massive opportunities ahead. We are one of the most successful enterprise zones in the country, Great Yarmouth is England’s offshore energy hub and Norfolk’s biggest seaside resort at the edge of the Broads National Park. The challenges we face in the borough are wide, but our commitment to achieving more has never been so focused.

We know that our team members are our most valuable asset, working hard to achieve our short and long term goals. Find out more about the people who work with us, and if you are as ambitious as we are, apply now and be part of our team.

We offer a range of exciting benefits as an employer and are committed to a policy of equal opportunity in employment and the services we provide.

There is more information on the Jobs page of the Great Yarmouth Borough Website, with details of how to apply and the recruitment process. You will also be able to find more details regarding DBS checks (if relevant for the job role), Right to Work checks, along with details of our values and behaviours, agile working and our Privacy Notice.