Director of Planning

Name: Craig Bond

Job title: Director of planning

Working hours: 45 to 60 hours a week

Employer: Harrison Grierson Consultants

Age: 41

Pay: $30,000 to around $60,000

Qualifications needed: Four-year planning degree

Career prospects: Many planners work for local government, while others join consulting firms. Council planners might aspire to CEO level, and self-employment is always an option. Large companies often employ planners, because they have a lot of resource management and compliance issues.

Q. Job description?

A. A part owner in this firm, I run a team of 50 planners. Much of my job revolves around strategic planning and policy analysis for local and central government before developments begin.

We're heavily involved in the design work for new towns in South Auckland, like Takanini/Papakura.

The information we provide helps to design things like adequate drainage, housing layout, roading and management of water resources.

Planning is really thought before action. So a big part of our job is making judgment calls on the impact that resource consent plans have on the environment.

Q. Why did you choose this line of work? I became a planner later in life after working as a qualified surveyor (four-year degree).

A. Out of sheer frustration with the negative aspects of getting things done in this industry I decided to complete a two-year postgraduate degree in planning. I wanted to make a difference by helping developments happen quicker.

Q. Any interesting one-off projects?

A. I've been involved in many Environmental Court cases where councils make developers pay an onerous amount to carry out their proposal.

Q. Most challenging/difficult part of the job?

A. Getting things done on time for clients and the law can be demanding, and dealing with conflicts between developers and opposing parties can be tricky.

While we're hired by individual clients, such as developers, we have to recommend outcomes that follow the law. The key to finding the best solution is to give good advice early.

Interpreting our complex and changing environmental law can be exciting and challenging - especially where we're doing something new and there's no precedent in law to guide us. It's never easy, but to preserve our reputation, we've often walked away from clients with unreasonable requests.

Q. Best part of the job?

A. Winning a case in the Environmental Court is satisfying. The biggest buzz is unlocking the door on resource consent for clients who may have faced lots of barriers. It's equally satisfying to watch a project you've been a part of finally completed. And assessing the effects on the environment is a very interesting and important part of any planner's work.

Q. What's a typical week for a planner?

A. It's a combination of staff and council office meetings, workshops to identify creative solutions and report writing. Many planners have nationwide projects, which mean they have to travel around four times a month.

Q. What qualities do you need to be successful?

A. Planners are typically the generalists within a development team, which includes civil and traffic engineers and architects. That means they must be lateral thinkers and good at managing people. Because they're constantly assessing how different parts of the development jigsaw will fit together, they must also be numerate and analytical.

Q. Advice to anyone contemplating a planning career?

A. If you have a strong concern for the environment and a genuine desire to help people, this profession is probably for you. Because environment law constantly changes, you must always be prepared to upgrade your skills. School leavers thinking of becoming a planner should try to get holiday work with a council or consultancy planning office or somewhere in the development industry.