We’ve recently taken on a new Senior Planner here at EP, and with our continuing growth and expansion they couldn’t have joined us at a better time! Will Laing joins us from the North Tyneside-Capita Partnership, bringing a wealth of planning knowledge, skills and expertise from a local authority perspective.
We sat down with Will and asked him to tell us a bit more about himself and how his first week in his new role has been:
“I have joined Ethical Partnership as a Senior Planner from the North Tyneside-Capita Partnership where I have spent a 14-year career working a dual role as a Local Authority Senior Planning Officer and in a consultancy role providing resilience support to Local Authorities across the length and breadth of England.
I bring a broad range of experience in assessing, negotiating and determining planning applications for broad spectrum of developments and an in-depth knowledge of processes, challenges faced by, and functions of Local Authorities, having worked in Development Management and Planning Enforcement teams in both urban and rural environments at both Unitary and County Authorities.
My previous roles included engagement, consultation and negotiation with applicants, developers, internal and external consultees, neighbours, Local Councillors and MPs, including the presentation of applications at Planning Committee meetings and successfully representing Local Authorities at appeal, including as an Expert Witness at Public Inquiry.
My first week at Ethical Partnership has flown by! I have received a warm welcome by my new colleagues and I already feel well integrated into the team. I have been well briefed on our existing projects, and I have a clear view of expectations and ethos of the company.
In my new post I have been allocated interesting projects with the trust to progress matters with minimal supervision, while knowing that support and advice from colleagues is readily available, while in return having my views colleagues seek my views and experience on projects.
Coming from a Local Authority background, I have had very little experience in the work involved in projects prior to the submission of the planning application, which presents a new and exciting challenge with a new skill set that I am very keen to learn and implement.”