Job Title: Planning and Environmental Lawyer

Advertised Salary:  £42,650

About Us

Are you looking for a new legal opportunity that offers great professional development, flexible working, high quality, varied and interesting work, and prioritises wellbeing and development?

We have a fantastic opportunity for an enthusiastic Planning and Environmental Lawyer to join our national Legal & Governance team who contribute to enriching the lives of those in our communities who live by, and use, our waterways. Making life better by water.

The Trust

The Canal & River Trust is one of the UK’s largest charities. We maintain 2,000 miles of historic canals, rivers, docks and reservoirs, along with museums, archives and the country’s third largest collection of protected historic buildings – preserving them for future generations. We care for living waterways that transform places and enrich lives, delivering greater wellbeing to millions of people.

We are a truly unique organisation, as a charity with significant statutory functions, interacting in a wide range of legal and regulatory frameworks, managing risk, and generating sufficient income to meet our responsibilities and further our charitable objects to operate the waterways, protect the environment, heritage, engage with the many diverse local communities which our network connects.

About our Legal Team

The Trust’s small but dedicated legal team plays a vital role in protecting the Trust’s interests, across the whole range of our activities, to ensure regulatory compliance with charity, environmental, planning, heritage, health and safety (as well as the Trust’s unique historic waterways Acts of Parliament dating back over 200 years), providing advice and drafting on contractual and property documentation, bringing and defending litigation (including judicial review) plus a full range of commercial, employment and boat licensing matters.

Planning and Environmental Lawyer

The Planning and Environmental Lawyer is an indispensable member of the team, providing pragmatic advice on all matters relating to planning and providing support to the Trust’s Senior Environmental Lawyer.

In this role you will take the lead in providing legal advice on the Trust’s role as statutory consultee for planning applications affecting land adjacent to its 2000-mile network, as well as assisting in obtaining planning permission for the Trust’s operational and property development work. You will provide advice on the Trust’s heritage and listed assets and protect the Trust’s interests in response to Development Consent Orders and national infrastructure projects, with external legal support where necessary.

Reporting to the Trust’s Senior Environmental Lawyer, you will also have the opportunity to advise on the full range of environmental regulatory issues, including water resources, water quality, environmental permitting and nature conservation.

This role offers a fantastic development opportunity for the right candidate who brings with them a minimum of 3 years post qualification experience. Here at the Trust you will be exposed to a range of cases in both complexity & size, and develop knowledge working with diverse environmental & heritage assets. The quality and breadth of planning and environmental law covered by the Trust is truly unique, offering you a very real opportunity to learn and grow here at the Trust.

Location and coverage

The Legal and Governance Team work remotely, with a requirement to attend our main hub spaces as and when required for team working and collaborative meetings.

Relevant hubs include: Leeds, Liverpool, Burnley, Newark, Birmingham, Milton Keynes, Gloucester, London. The regularity & flexibility of travel will be discussed further at interview stage.

About the role

The legal team works closely with colleagues across the Trust, helping to shape policy, inform decision-making, balancing risk and exploiting commercial and income opportunities. The legal team advises at all levels of the Trust, both in relation to regional teams and central teams right up to Executive and Board level.

Offering a unique professional and intellectual legal challenge in areas such as the environment, heritage and charity, this role is an exciting opportunity to become directly involve in our fantastic major national infrastructure and transport network; really making a difference in local communities as part of your day-to-day work.

Our-values (https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/refresh/media/thumbnail/35240-our-values.pdf). 

Key Accountabilities: 

• Providing legal advice on the Trust’s role as statutory consultee for applications for planning permission.
• Supporting the Trust’s Spatial Planning team in the development of planning policy.
• Assisting the Planning Delivery team in obtaining planning permission for the Trust’s operational and property development work.
• Supporting the National Infrastructure Services team in co-ordinating the Trust’s response to major infrastructure schemes (e.g.: HS2, Transport and Works Act Orders and development consent orders for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects) and other third party works.
• Assisting in the negotiation and drafting of section 106 agreements where the Trust is a developer or beneficiary of planning obligations.
• Supporting the Heritage team in the context of the heritage legal framework (e.g. listed building consent and scheduled ancient monuments consent).
• Providing advice on the handling of acquisition of the Trust’s land under compulsory purchase orders.
• Advise on rights of way and highway issues as they affect the Trust.

About you

This role offers a fantastic development opportunity for the right candidate who brings with them a minimum of 3 years post qualification experience. Here at the Trust you will be exposed to a range of cases in both complexity & size, and develop knowledge working with diverse environmental & heritage assets. The quality and breadth of planning and environmental law covered by the Trust is truly unique, offering you a very real opportunity to learn and grow here at the Trust.

Technical:

• A qualified lawyer with a solid legal background & planning law, and ideally with some environmental experience. 
• Track record of providing proactive, expert, timely, & pragmatic legal advice.
• Experience of environmental law an advantage but not essential- this role offers an opportunity to become involved in the full range of environmental law issues at the Trust with the support and supervision of the Trust’s Senior Environmental Lawyer.

General:

• Excellent oral and written communication skills, & a confidence in engaging with a diverse range of clients at different levels.
• Willingness & desire to learn.
• Displays a can-do mentality, & an ability to work, independently.

To Apply:  click on the "Apply for this job" button and follow the process - complete the application form & upload current CV.

If you have any questions about the role, please contact CRT.recruitment@canalrivertrust.org.uk

We are currently conducting our interview processes virtually as we continue to respect and follow necessary social distancing guidance to protect our team and our candidates. You may be invited to a face-to-face further stage interview which will always be conducted following strict social distancing guidelines. 

What We Offer

In addition to your salary of £42,650, you will benefit from a competitive contributory DC Pension scheme arrangement, great holiday entitlement and numerous other employee benefits, including several salary sacrifice benefits, all of which can be found here (https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/about-us/work-for-us/our-benefits). These include:

• 25 days paid holiday, plus paid Bank Holidays, increasing to 27 days plus Bank Holidays after 3 years
• Home working status with ‘hub’ facilities available if a need to work outside of home – flexibility. Monday to Friday working, no weekend working. 
• Annual £200 personal learning & growth award to spend on any learning related activity – hobbies; aspirations etc. 
• Free access to specialist counselling on a range of issues – health; financial; lifestyle; well-being; domestic & neighbourly matters. 
• Access to a range of employee benefits including – store discounts; boating holiday discounts; holiday purchase scheme. 
• 2 days paid volunteering leave, volunteering for local community project work.

At the Trust we care passionately for our waterways, and as importantly, for those who look after and use them. We strongly believe that a diverse workforce brings with it a diversity of ideas, thinking and ways of working which enhances what we do as a Trust. We are striving to represent the diverse communities that we are a part of and welcome applicants from across all sectors of the community.

All candidates will be treated on the basis of their merits, skills and abilities and solely by being assessed against the requirements for the job.

When you join the Canal & River Trust you become a member of an engaged team working to preserve our heritage for future generations. Come and share your passion and knowledge with a team that makes a difference to millions of people every day.

Find out more about us on our website: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/about-us