Planning jobs in Gloucestershire

About the area

Planning in Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire is a two-tier county with six district councils: Cheltenham, Cotswold, Forest of Dean, Gloucester, Stroud and Tewkesbury. They decide most planning applications and prepare local plans, while Gloucestershire County Council is responsible for minerals and waste planning, highways and schools. Gloucester, Cheltenham and Tewkesbury have worked together on a Joint Core Strategy, because so much of the growth around the two main urban areas falls across their boundaries.

The county splits into three broad landscapes. The Severn Vale between Gloucester and Cheltenham, along the M5, takes most new housing and employment land and is constrained by Green Belt and flood risk from the Severn. To the east, much of the land sits within the Cotswolds National Landscape, with honey-stone market towns where conservation and design quality lead the work. West of the Severn, the Forest of Dean and the Wye Valley National Landscape bring forestry, former mining and rural regeneration issues. Planners here find roles in councils, at consultancies based in Cheltenham and Gloucester, and with developers active along the M5 corridor.