CAREER FOCUS/Spatial Planning: Planning has been big news in recent years. Certain planning affairs have been at the centre of political scandal and political downfall.
Issues involving planning can have a huge impact at State and local level, with the unauthorised building of conservatories seeing neighbour pitted against neighbour. Planning can be a prickly and complicated issue and it requires knowledgable professionals to sort it all out. Planners are important.
Town planning, urban and regional planning or environmental planning and now spatial planning are all terms used to describe largely the same job. Hendrick Van Der Kamp, head of the department of planning and development at DIT, says spatial planning is the term now favoured by the EU. "Planning involves laying things out in space. Different terms are used, but at EU level, at the level of policy-making, the term used is spatial planning."
Planning is about using the physical environment efficiently and it is increasingly recognised as having a crucial role to play in contributing to the achievement of the sustainable development of the State's economy and society. Traditionally graduates go into the local authority after qualification, where they work in the planning department.
"Their job involves making sure the Planning Act is implemented properly, dealing with planning applications and deciding if designs and locations are appropriate. You could also be involved in drawing up plans, such as urban, regional, county and urban development plans, the carrying out of development control and the preparation and evaluation of environmental impact assessments," Van Der Kamp says.
The planners remit extends from small domestic matters such as house extensions to huge corporate developments like the Spenser Docks and all the different levels in between, such as infrastructural developments and landfill or incinerator sites.
Planning doesn't just involve bricks and mortar issues; social and environmental considerations are hugely important. Planners have a role to play in the formulation and implementation of community development programmes or rural resource management plans.
Planners are in regular contact with many other professionals, such as engineers, architects and solicitors. "Planners co-ordinate environmental impact assessments with a lot of different experts and they must be able to speak the language of all these experts." With large developments covered by the local authority, graduate planners usually work as part of a team as assistant planners alongside executive planners and senior executive planners.
Planners also work in private industry in planning consultancy firms or with larger construction companies. Opportunities also exist in a variety of other public and private sector organisations with an interest in the environmentally sustainable planning and management of the built environment. More senior planners work as inspectors with An Bord Pleanála.
Recent years have seen a shortage of qualified planners in Ireland and elsewhere. "Job prospects became extremely good when the construction boom happened and new planning legislation under the Planning and Development Act 2000 is likely to increase the demand for planners," he says.
Most planners used to be Dublin-based, but this has changed significantly, says Van Der Kamp. Every county has a planner and most now have different levels of planning. The job involves a mix of office and on-site work so planners "must like the outdoor life".
A flare for design is important, he says, as is strong social and environmental awareness. "Planners must have a feeling for the public interest and the community good and they must also be looking at the bigger picture."
