Job Introduction
Do you love the countryside and want to help make sure people can get out and safely enjoy Staffordshire’s beautiful landscapes? We are looking for an experienced and enthusiastic person to join the Rights of Way Team to help manage and maintain our path network.
The Rights of Way team oversees Staffordshire’s public rights of way (PRoW) – an impressive 4500km network of footpaths and bridleways that plays an ever-increasing role in providing greener travel choices, support for local businesses and physical and mental health benefits for our communities.
Main Responsibility
You will help us to make sure the network is accessible by undertaking audits and inspections including validating issues that have been reported to us to ensure they are effectively prioritised. With support from the Rights of Way Manager and Rights of Way Team Leader, you will take the lead on investigating, negotiating and resolving issues on and changes to the PRoW network and in doing so will advise and engage with elected members/officers, members of the public, landowners, developers and others key stakeholders.
Tasks include:
- preparing and informing reports for relevant committees and planning enquiries,
- organising cases and implementing enforcement procedures,
- processing applications for emergency and temporary changes and supporting responses to planning applications.
- contribute to the preparation and implementation of plans, processes and procedures, including the Rights of Way Improvement Plan.
Success relies on building and maintaining positive relationships with landowners, interest/user groups, district and parish councils to encourage partnership working and community involvement in management of the PRoW network.
While this post is focused on PRoW, all roles need to be flexible and you may be required to support work across Environment & Countryside to meet business needs commensurate with the general nature and grading of this role.
The Ideal Candidate
For this role we would need you to:
- Have knowledge gained through a degree or have experience in rights of way and access management
- Have effective interpersonal and negotiation skills with landowners, user groups, maintenance teams and contractors to deliver the solutions you have developed.
- Be able to access remote areas beyond the reach of public transport, covering a large area and working alone but also at times with others and in all weather.
- Map-reading skills
- A full clean driving licence.
For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Paul Rochfort, Rights of Way Team Leader, on 07976 191054 or email paul.rochfort@staffordshire.gov.uk
“We’re happy to talk flexible working”
About Staffordshire County Council
We are no ordinary county council:
Our Values:
The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively.
Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:
We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future.
We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too.
Our benefits:
We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.
In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to Our rewards and benefits - Careers at Staffordshire
Our recruitment process:
As an Authority we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
Staffordshire County Council is an equal opportunities organisation and Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from all background and communities
As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a Gold Award Armed Forces employer and our commitment to supporting care leavers - we offer a guaranteed interview as long as your application meets the minimum criteria for the post.