There’s a sharp fall in the number of job offered by government this week. Yet our non-job of the week reveals a worrying development in Regional Development Agencies that local taxpayers should watch out for:
“Thurrock Lakeside Basin Policy Officer
£33,291 to £37,543
The East of England Regional Assembly is the regional partnership of the Region’s 54 local authorities and a range of community stakeholders. We are based at Flempton, near Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk.
The post offers you a chance to engage in Regional Planning at an exciting and fast-changing time. EERA has led the way in producing the first Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) under the reformed planning system and is currently embarking on its partial review. The adopted RSS included a requirement for EERA to review Policy RTG2 on Thurrock Lakeside Basin.
This post is suitable for a person with either a planning background, or a good academic background who wishes to develop their skills as a planner. This post offers excellent opportunities for personal and professional development.
You must have first class interpersonal, verbal and written skills and a willingness to work within political and management direction, often within partnerships. You must have experience of managing and interpreting data, be familiar with housing data sources and possess high quality research and analytical skills.
This is a new role and you would be joining the Assembly at a time of significant change in the regional infrastructure. You must therefore be capable of embracing change whilst also remaining focussed on delivering the requirements of this exciting role.
We offer you an excellent working and living environment, flexible working arrangements and a real opportunity to influence policy at a regional level.
Please contact Margaret Gough on 01284 729447 for further information about the post.
Application packs are available on our website www.eera.gov.uk or by contacting Nicola Amey 01284 728151 or [email protected].
The closing date for applications is midday on Tuesday 2 September 2008.
Interviews will be held on 4 September 2008.
East of England Regional Assembly, Flempton House, Flempton, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. IP28 6EG”
I’ve highlighted a sentence in the advertisement to show how these unaccountable Quangos now threaten to make planning law. That these unaccountable, unelected, wasteful bodies can encroach further into our lives makes a mockery of our democratic system. We have already ceded unacceptable amount to the EU – which should not have legislative authority in the first place – and this non-job shows how far these remote bodies have come in affecting our lives. I strongly urge you to write to your Council to get them to withdraw from their Regional Assembly, as Medway Council has done.