Q&A
Dec 15, 2021
Meet Senior Town Planner 鈥 part of 网曝吃瓜黑料一区二区三区鈥 U.K. Planning team, one the largest providers of consenting resource capability nationally, whose work is helping clients to reprioritize the use of spaces to create more active, resilient and inclusive cities and communities.
Lucy and the team have been named In-house Planning Team at the . The RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence are the most established and respected awards in the U.K. planning industry. Running for over 40 years, they celebrate exceptional examples of planning and the contribution planners make to society.
RTPI President Wei Yang FRTPI said: 鈥淭he fact the even during the pandemic we received so many entries is a testament to how the planning profession across the U.K. and around the world has stepped up to deliver innovative, place-based solutions to the challenges of health and wellbeing, climate change and the biodiversity decline, as well as housing and economic growth.鈥
For this feature we connected with Lucy on her award with the Planning team, her STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) career journey to date and what inspires her.
After completing her undergraduate degree in Town Planning, Lucy joined 网曝吃瓜黑料一区二区三区 in 2016 as a Graduate Urban Designer. Lucy has since had a very agile career, recently finishing two years in the Growth and Sales team as a Sales Operational Professional and now working with the Town Planning team on both projects and smaller bidding opportunities.
What inspired you to pursue a career in STEAM?
My parents met while undertaking a Town Planning degree, so in many ways my career path was chosen for me! Growing up I was surrounded by interest and passion for the built environment and social sciences which triggered my interest in how spaces work (and don鈥檛 work) for everyone and I wanted to be part of the industry that helped create fun, vibrant and inclusive spaces.
Tell us more about your role as Senior Town Planner
Working in the Town Planning team, I look at both planning and sales. Predominantly, I act as Senior Town Planner on both small and large infrastructure projects including a widening scheme for a highways client and bridge replacement in the South of England. Using my recent experience in Growth and Sales, I also lead on bids and proposals for Water & Environment and author for larger proposals.
What鈥檚 your favorite part of your role? What inspires you most about it?
Being able to work on both multi-disciplinary projects and bid proposals I get to meet and work with so many interesting people, both in-house and external to 网曝吃瓜黑料一区二区三区. Through meeting people outside of my immediate profession and working on schemes in differing disciplines, I am challenged to think differently, continuously educate myself and grow a supportive network. Since starting my most recent role in November 2020, I have led a water bid proposal, started working on a motorway scheme, submitted an application for a new bridge and authored a metro proposal response.
What is a typical day like in your role?
Working across different projects and proposals, no day is ever the same! My project work can involve anything from advising a client on how to approach and respond to planning applications surrounding a DCO scheme, to presenting to 200+ project colleagues and client teams on Inclusion and Diversity.
Tell us more about why the team won the Royal Town Planning Institute's In-house Planning Team of the Year Award?
We have such a dynamic team that gets involved in a mix and scale of projects across 网曝吃瓜黑料一区二区三区. From highways and rail to nuclear power stations, our team understands how to secure consents for infrastructure through advising and challenging projects, right from project mobilization to construction.
Your most interesting career moment?
In 2018, I attended the opening of the London Transport Museum鈥檚 鈥楩uture Engineer鈥 exhibition alongside software engineers, civil engineers and others. Interviewed by small news channels and media outlets at the opening, I discussed diversity in the industry and why I believe exhibits exploring built environment professions are vital to attracting young women into the industry.
What鈥檚 something you learned in the last week?
I read a great article by The Guardian that talked about how our cities are built for 6ft-tall men with the Architect Le Corbusier informing design frameworks through referencing handsome policemen, saying that 鈥樷檛he good-looking men, such as policemen, are always 6ft-tall鈥 and that our streets, door handles and everything in between should be designed with them as a benchmark. Which, as we know more than 70 years later, hasn鈥檛 quite worked for the majority of our population!
Your most proud career moment?
In April, I organized and chaired a Royal Town Planning Institute and Women in Planning (WiP) event to discuss inclusive spaces and the associated barriers and opportunities. We had an amazing line-up of women in the industry, with a hero of mine, Dr Ellie Cosgrave participating which was an ultimate 鈥榩inch me鈥 career moment.
For me, it was a full circle moment having researched gender inequalities in the built environment for my undergraduate dissertation and being a gender equality advocate on projects and through my work with WiP London.
If you aren鈥檛 working, what would we be most likely to find you doing?
I鈥檝e recently moved to Brighton and therefore spend every spare minute I have by the sea, either sea kayaking (trying to sea kayak鈥ew hobby) or drinking a cold beer on the beach!
People would be surprised to know that I鈥.
鈥rganized a trip to Sierra Leone in 2019, taking seven 网曝吃瓜黑料一区二区三区鈥 colleagues with relevant technical disciplines to help masterplan, design and implement small infrastructure schemes in a new town including flood defenses and a football field.
What do you enjoy most about being part of the 网曝吃瓜黑料一区二区三区 team?
When I joined 网曝吃瓜黑料一区二区三区, I had just graduated from Newcastle University and didn鈥檛 have a solid foundation in London. Through a 网曝吃瓜黑料一区二区三区 Employee Network, I met a huge cohort of colleagues in a similar stage of their life and nearly five years later those colleagues are some of my favorite people in and outside of 网曝吃瓜黑料一区二区三区. For me, it鈥檚 this sense of community and friendship that makes 网曝吃瓜黑料一区二区三区 what it is.
More about our Planning team and the RTPI award:
Our winning Planning team includes specialists working in town & country planning, development consent orders, U.K. Parliament Hybrid Bills, marine planning, national & local policy support, local planning, city-wide strategies, socio-economic assessments and masterplanning. Working across highways, rail, aviation, energy and residential, they collaborate with environmental specialists, architects and stakeholder communications and other disciplines to provide planning advice and support across project lifecycles.
The judges commented that: 鈥溚爻怨虾诹弦磺 is a team with strong delivery and ability to get projects over the line. There is positive work being done by this planning team to develop and apply new approaches, which is delivering positive outcomes in terms of project delivery at pace.鈥
Join #Our网曝吃瓜黑料一区二区三区 team
We鈥檙e always looking for dynamic and engaged people to join our team. Bring your passion, your ingenuity and your vision.Let鈥檚 see the impact we can create, together.