Principal Planning Officer

Halton Borough Council; Farnworth; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 56,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Holiday entitlement

LGPS pension

Life cover 3x salary

Personal development

Free car parking

Flexible working

Job summary

Halton Borough Council is recruiting for a Planning professional to manage a wide range of planning applications and associated processes. The role involves coordinating multiple departments, providing specialist advice on environmental assessment, conservation and listed buildings, and delivering effective planning enforcement.

It offers a supportive team environment and opportunities to influence policy and development outcomes.

Qualifications

• Manage a full range of planning applications, consents, Section 106 negotiations, and appeals.
• Provide professional advice and coordinate departments to deliver the planning process.
• Specialist advice on environmental assessment, conservation, listed buildings, enforcement and pre-application matters.
• Lead on planning enforcement and improve the quality of service.
• Contribute to policy formulation and plan-making processes.
• Supervise junior team members and allocate work.

Responsibilities

• Prepare reports and recommendations for the Director.
• Maintain statutory records and monitor development against policy.
• Provide day-to-day guidance and support to the team.
• Collaborate with elected members and external bodies on planning matters.

Skills

Planning applications

Section 106

Professional advice

Environmental assessment

Conservation

Listed buildings

Enforcement

Pre-application advice

Team supervision

Leadership

Reporting

Job description

The following content displays a map of the jobs location - Halton Borough Council

Environment and Regeneration Directorate

Department: Policy, Planning and Transportation

Job Introduction

Our Story:

Halton is a vibrant local authority with a rich history and heritage, featuring three iconic bridges that connect communities across the River Mersey. Located in Cheshire, Halton boasts excellent transport links between Liverpool and Manchester, as well as close proximity to both Liverpool John Lennon and Manchester Airports.

Our progressive community strategy aims to bring about meaningful, long-term improvements that enhance lives. It’s an exciting time to join us as we develop new policies and transform the way people access services.

We are immensely proud that when asked what’s great about working for Halton, the most popular response from our workforce has been ‘our colleagues’.

Our Team:

The Planning and Development Management team consists of professional officers responsible for a wide range of planning-related functions. The service works collaboratively with other Council departments, stakeholders, and external partners to secure sustainable development that benefits residents and businesses across the Borough. The Development Management Team play a key role in delivering the Local Plan and ensuring high quality development is secured to support the acceleration of sustainable growth across the Borough.

Hours: 37

Your Contributions:

• To manage a full range of planning applications and associated consents, Section 106 negotiations, professional analysis and appraisal, and deal with planning appeals and Inquiries.
• To act as a facilitator and to coordinate departments in the delivery of the planning process.
• To provide professional advice, support and expertise, including undertaking formal presentations to the Development Control Committee.
• To provide specific specialist planning advice in respect of environmental assessment, conservation and listed buildings, enforcement and pre-application advice and to prepare guidance and instruction for users of the service in respect of these specialist matters.
• The post holder will also undertake all other aspects of planning, and allied working including policy formulation and input into the plan making process.
• To provide a lead on Planning Enforcement and Planning application process to deliver a quality service.
• To have responsibility for managing and monitoring money received and spent via section 106 agreements
• Dealing with elected members, statutory agencies, the public and other bodies on planning matters as well as allied activity.
• Preparing reports and recommendations in respect of planning applications and other associated activity for assessment and the agreement of the Director.
• Other duties including the maintenance of all necessary statutory records, ensuring that on-going development is checked and monitored and relevant policy documents are regularly reviewed and updated (within the qualifications and experience of the post-holder) as required by the Director including cover for absent colleagues.
• To assist with the rolling out of programmes of continuous improvement, identifying good practice and innovation.
• To have day to day responsibility for the supervision and monitoring of junior team colleagues, providing advice, guidance and on the job support and allocating work.
• Undertake any other duties and responsibilities as may be assigned from time to time, which are commensurate with the grade of the job.
• The post-holder will be a member of the team of professional and support officers dealing with a wide range of complex planning and related work, and will be expected to operate flexibly within that context.

Our Offer:

Aside from working with a great team, our employees have access to a fantastic range of benefits, including:

• A generous annual holiday allowance starting at 34 days per year (including bank holidays), increasing with long servicewith the option to purchase an additional four-days of unpaid leave for our Annual Christmas Closedown
• Membership of our defined benefit, salary-linked Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) with generous employer contributions
• 3 x Salary Life Cover via Local Government Pension Scheme
• Investment in your personal development
• Free Car Parking at HBC sites
• Flexible working arrangements
• Extensive employee benefits platform including discounted shopping, car leasing, gym memberships, wellbeing hub and Employee Assistance Programme.

Interviews will take place week commencing 12th October 2026

At Halton Borough Council we want to ensure that our communities are represented across our workforce and a vital part of this is to encourage diversity in all respects. We are committed to making our recruitment practices barrier-free and tailored to best suit the needs and strength of the individual. This includes making adjustments for people with a disability, neurodiversity or with long-term health conditions. If you require accommodations, please reach out during the recruitment process so that we can make this the best possible experience for you – [e-mail]

Please refer to the attached Job Profile for further information about the role and our values.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy earlier than the specified date should we receive sufficient applications.