A town planning assistant or technician provides practical and technical support for town planners. Duties are varied and include giving advice to the public and administration duties.
The Work
You could be:
- gathering, interpreting and analysing statistical information for professional staff
- dealing with correspondence and enquiries from the public
- processing building warrant and planning applications
- checking legislation
- preparing reports including costings, tables of statistics and drawings
- enlarging, reducing, extracting from or revising maps, using specialist software such as Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
- using computer-aided design (CAD) to draw up designs and plans
- keeping records and maintaining systems
- setting up public meetings.
Pay
The figures below are only a guide. Actual pay rates may vary, depending on:
- where you work
- the size of company or organisation you work for
- the demand for the job.
Starting salaries for town planning assistants or technicians range from £18,000 to £25,000 a year. With experience this can rise to over £30,000 a year.
Conditions
- You will work mainly in an office.
- You might occasionally travel to go to meetings and visit sites.
- There might be some evening and weekend work.
Workforce Employment Status
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Useful Subjects
Getting In
- You can usually get in with Highers or a relevant NC (SCQF Levels 4-6) or SVQ.
- Entry to NC or SVQ is usually some subjects at National 4 or 5.
- It helps if you know about CAD, GIS and other relevant software.
- You need to be able to understand maps and technical plans.
Workforce Education Levels (UK)
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Job Outlook Scotland
Job Outlook Scotland and UK
Scotland
2024
3260
2029
3340
United Kingdom
2024
36542
2029
37823
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What Does it Take?
You need:
- accuracy and attention to detail
- good written and spoken communication skills
- to be able to work alone and as part of a team
- numeracy and IT skills
- analytical thinking skills
- knowledge of CAD and specialist software
- organisational skills and the ability to work to deadlines
- the ability to understand and produce technical drawings
- a good understanding of local and national planning laws.
Training
- Training is usually on the job.
- You may attend college on a day release basis to study for a relevant qualification.
Getting On
- After gaining experience you may be able to move on to senior level, particularly in the public sector.
- Professionals, such as Town Planning Assistants/Technicians involved in spatial planning can become an Associate of the RTPI once they have demonstrated a balance of educational and work experience. There is a route to Chartered Membership of the RTPI from Associate. See the RTPI website for full details.
- It is also possible to qualify to become a professional town planner through further study.
More Information
For more information please see the organisations listed below:
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