Planning Inspectors - Pen Pictures of Inspectors - Pen Pictures of Inspectors

• Jennifer Armstrong - Part time salaried Housing and Planning Inspector
• Stuart Nixon - Full time salaried Principal Inspector and Sub Group Leader
• Jonathan Bore - Full time salaried Inspector Group Manager
  

Jennifer Armstrong - Part time salaried Housing and Planning Inspector

I have been an Inspector in various guises since 1987 although I have had 2 children since then and two longish periods off work. I am now a part time main grade, salaried Inspector. This means I notify the office well in advance which (full) weeks I want to work in the coming year.

At present I have chosen to work 26 weeks but, with sufficient notice, the number can be altered. This is an excellent arrangement: I can do a serious, worthwhile job but also spend a lot of time with my children and pursuing other interests. Perhaps there is one main disadvantage to my way of working. Moving up the ladder (and earning more!) essentially means holding bigger inquiries and/or working in Bristol and therefore being away from home for longer periods. Therefore, because of my particular circumstances, I am not seeking promotion.

However, working part time does not imply any sort of 'second rate' status or restrict involvement in training or other aspects of the Inspectorates work: last year, for example, I was a speaker at a RTPI conference and took part in the selection of new Inspectors. The work of the Inspectorate is fascinating at any level. It is also exacting and demanding and during my working weeks, I find there is little time for anything else. But I have never wanted to do anything different.

Stuart Nixon - Full time salaried Principal Inspector and Sub Group Leader

I joined the Planning Inspectorate in 1985 after 18 years working in Local Government, mainly as an engineer, but with some involvement in planning and, for a time, as a member of the Chief Executive's management team. Qualifications in engineering, planning and transportation underpin my expertise, but the Inspectorate has supported me in expanding my specialist knowledge to include all types of environmental and water related casework.

With such subjects being technically based and developing and changing quickly, training is important and a high level of resource input is necessary on a continuing basis. For me, promotion through Senior to Principal Inspector was relatively rapid, reaching the substantive Principal grade in 5½ years and I now manage a group of Main and Senior Grade Inspectors. However, it is fair to say that the opportunity to progress as quickly and to move up the pay grades is much harder today.

On the plus side, the working regime offers some very attractive benefits. I no longer have to commute to work; there is considerable flexibility in the working arrangements; and the variety of work provides continuing and developing interests and challenges. Incidentally, every new Inspector starting to work from home will need a smart riposte to neighbours sadness about him/her being made redundant. On the downside, working alone for long periods allows for far less interaction with colleagues and an irregular programme makes it hard to attend functions or clubs etc on a regular basis. Despite the adverts, life in hotels is not all it is cracked up to be. As in most walks of life today, we are target driven and this necessitates balancing carefully the dual demands of timeliness and quality. Overall, however, I have found the work both demanding and rewarding and, at 54, I look to a flexible retirement/working opportunity beyond the normal retiring age of 60.

Jonathan Bore - Full time salaried Inspector Group Manager

I had a varied planning career before joining the Inspectorate. This included experience in design, development control and regeneration in the London Boroughs of Camden and Hackney, development control, forward planning and assistant chief at Canterbury City Council, planning manager and land buyer in a housebuilding company, and then planning director in a firm of architects. I have university qualifications in Town and Country Planning, Urban Design and Archaeology, and I am a member of the RTPI.

I was delighted to be appointed as an Inspector in 1990 as it was something I had long wanted to do once I had gained enough experience. I was 37 when I joined and at the time my son was only 6. As a family we were concerned about my being away from home, but apart from the initial training course of two weeks there were no spells of more than one or two days away from home until I started undertaking senior casework by which time my son was older. The initial training course was quite intensive but excellent in its content and organisation. I recall this period as being quite exciting, and as I started in October it was rather like going back to university to study a new subject and meet new (albeit mature) students. Some of my new colleagues were from quite different professional backgrounds including solicitors, architects and engineers.

To begin with, I carried out a mixed diet of written representations, hearings and inquiries, but also had the opportunity to participate as an assistant Inspector in one or two big cases, including assisting in the archaeological aspects of a major flood alleviation scheme in the Thames Valley. After about 3 years I was promoted to Senior Inspector and undertook some larger casework including several longer superstore and housing inquiries. I was also given training in development plan work and held two very enjoyable local plan inquiries. After a few more years I was given the opportunity to carry out rather different roles, including acting as a policy advisor in the Inspectorate's headquarters in Bristol, and sitting on the Panel on the Examination into the draft Regional Planning Guidance for the South West. In September last year I was promoted to Group Manager and moved into the office to manage two groups of Inspectors. The Inspectorate intentionally promotes experienced Inspectors to these posts because it is very useful to bring recent field experience into the office. Inspectors can be confident that their Group Manager has faced the same problems and issues, both professional and personal, that they have to deal with.

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