Kirklees Council

Introduction and mission statement

Kirklees combines the best of greenbelt, vibrant urban areas and historic buildings to create a popular place to live and work in Yorkshire.
The district is centred on the university town of Huddersfield, a major industrial
and retailing centre, boasting the third highest number of listed buildings in the country. To the south, the stunning scenery of "Summer Wine" country draws tourists and people wanting to share the Pennine country lifestyle. By contrast the north is heavily urbanised, with former mills in the market towns on the edge of Leeds and Bradford now sought after locations for new homes and businesses.
As a local authority planning service, we cover all developments in this diverse area, ensuring buildings and the environment are used in the best interests of the community as a whole. Our work includes regulation, conservation, technical advice and the development of a policy framework in which planning decisions are taken. We often work in partnership with national, regional and local regeneration agencies and seek to involve the community at all levels Ð from policy making to planning decisions.

Employment opportunities

The diverse work of Kirklees Council's Planning Service offers the opportunity for staff to gain a wide range of experience. The teams cover all activities concerned with the use and development of land and buildings:

• Our Development Control team is one of the busiest in the country handling over 5000 applications each year. Over half of our staff are employed in this team.
• Kirklees boasts more than 4500 listed buildings and over 60 conservation areas, so we have opportunities for officers with specialist knowledge of conservation and design;
• As the work of our Policy department expands further into community engagement, new roles are being created. Vacancies come up at all levels for officers to help progress the Local Development Framework and involve local people in future planning decisions.

Vacancies most frequently arise at junior levels, but they come with excellent prospects for promotion and development. Visit our website to rigister for email and text alerts about new jobs in the Planning Service, and to find out more about what we do.

Training and career development

As a positive and supportive employer, we are keen to give members of our team learning opportunities that will help them "grow" into more senior positions, particularly as a large proportion of the service retire in the next ten years.
All staff receive regular appraisals, which include identifying formal training courses to attend and informal opportunities for Continuing Professional Development. In recognition of this, Kirklees Council has received the Investors in People award. As an employer we seek to have a representative workforce at all levels.

Employment policies
A number of benefits are offered to employees including:

• A flexi-time system;
• Family friendly policies such as job share and compressed working  arrangements;
• Annual leave entitlement of 22-25 days per year (depending on grade), rising by 5 days after 5 years of service;
• Competitive car loans for employees who use their car as part of their normal working day and subsidised permits for public transport;
• An attractive pension scheme is also available.