As part of our Understanding Planning campaign, we recently caught up with Student Planner, Katie Forbes. 

4 February 2022

Katie is originally from Bedfordshire. She grew up in Gloucestershire and is now studying Urban Planning and Development at Cardiff University.

Katie joined the Policy Team in August 2020 on placement as part of her degree.

“Doing a placement at the Vale seemed like a great opportunity to gain an insight into what planning is actually like in practice, particularly from a public sector perspective. 

“My favourite subject at school was Geography, but I knew that I wanted to study something a bit more vocational at university.

“I also wanted to pursue a career in something that tackled geographical issues, both human and physical. I was keen to be involved in a sector that is both diverse but also quite practical and that overlapped with other industries.”

A typical day for Katie involves writing policy observations, preparing consultation documents, responding to planning queries and monitoring comments and feedback from consultation work.

Katie says her favourite part of the role is that she gets to work on lots of diverse and rewarding projects:

“I work on projects that are large-scale and have long-term impacts. I’m working on the Sustainable Settlements Appraisal at the moment. This will help inform a number of other policy documents and the growth strategy for the Vale of Glamorgan in the future.

“Planning policy is fundamentally rooted in improving both the built and natural environment. It helps us create a framework so that development can be delivered in the best way possible. It’s great to think policies we create can have such far-reaching benefits.”

As part of her university studies, Katie hopes to learn more about sustainable development, specifically the steps involved with reinventing and regenerating brownfield sites.

“Effective planning can ensure a balanced rate of development that is considerate of a broad range of social, cultural, economic, and environmental factors. Also, I think if planning is executed effectively it can positively contribute to community cohesiveness. 

“But for the process itself to be effective, I think there needs to be a certain element of transparency and it needs to be as inclusive of all members of society as possible.

“I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that planning policies and regulations are not considerate of the need to protect the natural environment and disregard the need to mitigate against environmental damage. 

“These factors are of course considered but need to be balanced against a huge range of other issues and factors. Also, I think people underestimate the volume of steps involved in the planning process and how time consuming it can be.”

Since starting her role, Katie says she has a new-found appreciation for timescales involved in progressing planning projects and the responsibilities that come with the role.

In her spare time, Katie loves going to see live music, going out for food with friends and spending time with her two dogs.