Why Join Our Town Planning Team?
Spiire provide some of the best opportunities to grow and develop a career in town planning due to our diverse client base, the variety of town planning applications we deliver, our scale and depth of experience and expertise, and our integration with other services.
‘There is often a misconception that Spiire’s planning team work predominantly with land development clients, which simply isn’t correct’ says Aran Barker, Principal Town Planner at Spiire.
We have a very strong and diversified client base including Government Departments, Local Councils, infrastructure authorities, health providers, industrial developers, landowner groups and individuals as well as residential land developers.
Glennie Nottle started at Spiire as a Professional in 2018. ‘Coming from a smaller town planning consultancy, I never really had the opportunity to manage projects to the scale that I have at Spiire’.
‘Working on large, sometimes State significant, projects for major clients means that there are a large number of issues and multiple stakeholders which need to be managed concurrently. This requires developed project management, budgeting and client management skills, to determine what approvals are needed in order to deliver the project, and what approach to achieve those approvals would be the most beneficial to our clients.’
Aran’s first experiences of Spiire were more than 12 years ago ‘I first came across people from Spiire when I was a planner for a previous employer’ says Aran. ‘I had many cross overs with senior Spiire staff whilst I was providing planning services on common projects. It was actually the people I met from Spiire that impressed me; they were highly professional, technically very competent and just nice people to work with’.
Aran eventually made the move to Spiire in 2016 ‘It was quite a big decision for me – I’d only been with my employer at the time for a year and I have always been very loyal to the employers I have worked for’.
‘The Directors brought me on and provided me with an opportunity to help grow and develop the planning team. I was very impressed with the people I was working alongside and the nimble and dynamic nature of the business, being employee owned. They empowered me to make decisions and make big changes that would improve the team.’
Aran says the outcomes for himself and the business have all been positive ‘I have a much better understanding of management considerations’ says Aran. ‘I made the step from being a good technical planner to gaining a much more holistic perspective of business and how it is run’.
‘I’ve been given a lot of responsibility and trust on projects’ says Glennie, ‘which has taught me so much and allowed me to demonstrate to myself what I can achieve. Whenever I feel like I am starting to achieve my short-term development goals, I am thrown something new which keeps me learning and engaged’.
‘Aran has always empowered me with context, and taught me good client management and business skills. As an Associate now I am guiding a small team, building on my people management skills and learning how to get the best out of others to develop their careers.’
In terms of the variety of work, Aran says ‘we are often the trusted advisor for our clients. Our services include anything from due diligence and feasibility to permit applications, planning scheme amendments, strategic investigations and masterplanning.
‘The other thing that sets us apart is our integration with our other disciplines; we regularly collaborate with our Civil Engineering, Surveying, Urban Design, Water Engineering and Landscape Architecture teams, not only providing them with advice but broadening our understanding and gaining an appreciation for how planning fits into the broader development process’.
To learn more about the opportunities that exist for your career progression at Spiire click here.
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To learn more about our Town Planning team click here