[28
JAN 99] STRATFORD ON AVON DISTRICT COUNCIL PRESS RELEASE
Long Arm Of The PlannersTwo workers at
Stratford District Council are among the first in the country to pass through a new course
for policing planning regulations. Brian Caley and Steve Griffith have just completed the
first 'Certificated Course Programme in Planning Enforcement', which was held at Cambridge
University.
Brian and Steve are both ex-police officers and joined the
District Council in 1989. They will be using their newly acquired skills to take on more
complex casework, rather than simply the investigative role they used to perform. The
District Council deals with around 1,000 planning enforcement cases each year, ranging
from complaints about shop signs to unauthorised building extensions which have to be
demolished.
"I couldn't be more delighted that we have got such a
quick return on our investment, and it also proves once again that mature staff are just
as capable of learning for life,"
says Sean O'Grady, the Council's Director of Planning.
"Brian and Steve were in the first wave to experience
the course, so a lot was resting on their shoulders as guinea pigs.
"It has given them a much broader understanding of the
system they work within, and their range of skills has increased. This makes our resources
go much further, and takes some of the strain off their colleagues.
"It is a great practical form of motivation for other
staff teetering on the edge of making similar decisions about taking on courses."
The course was endorsed by the District Council in autumn
1997 as CPD (Continuous Professional Development), aimed at unqualified staff working on
planning enforcement who want to gain a systematic framework for their jobs and obtain an
accredited qualification in their particular field.
Some residential modules were involved. The course was set
up by Trevor Roberts, President of the Royal Town Planning Institute for 1998/99, and
sponsored by the University of Cambridge Board of Continuing Education.
MORE INFORMATION:
Mark Lepkowski, press officer on 01789 260104 or
Sean O'Grady, director of planning on 01789 260300
e-mail: sean.ogrady@stratford-dc.gov.uk
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