Nic Wheeler

Chief Executive,

Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority

BA (Hons) Geography (Dunelm)

Diploma in Town Design (Chelmsford)

While at University I completed a dissertation study in Pembrokeshire, and worked for the County Council in their Planning Department over that summer. I was able to return to Pembrokeshire when I completed my degree. Since that time, I have developed my career in Pembrokeshire and I now work for the National Park Authority.

My current job involves …..

I now work as the Chief Executive of the National Park, which is the most senior post in the council. My job as is both reactive and proactive – dealing with events and crisis as they occur, and managing the Authority, its staff and its work programme, while all the time striving to create and maintain a positive, friendly culture which adds value and makes things happen, and appreciates that people are at the heart of all we do, and need to be brought aboard and convinced of the good we do. The variety and pace of the job is its attraction, with never a dull moment, and every now and again the warm satisfaction of seeing a job well done, appreciated and successful.

My work has not been limited to Pembrokeshire. I have been the Lead Officer to all 14 National Parks in the UK. I have chaired the Welsh ‘Coed Cymru’ Partnership, I sit on three Assembly Ministerial Fora – Planning, Coast and Marine, and the Heritage Environment Group, I have also presented evidence at Westminster and to the Assembly, and I am a trustee of Cambria Archaeology. I was also a member of the Secretary Of State’s ‘Sea Empress Environmental Evaluation Committee’ which studied and reported on the effects of the oil spillage.

All of this adds to the richness of the job, and to job satisfaction and the sense of personal achievement.

My work now also involves marine planning, where there is now more thought about how we affect the seas and oceans with pipelines, windfarms, and dredging, to name just a few.

My Views on Planning as a Career

It is not so much what you learn, as what you learn to do, and how to approach complex issues in a holistic manner seeking balanced solutions while engaging a variety of stakeholders.  Planning training and ability is central to dealing with an increasingly complex society, and gives you the skills to tackle almost any career opportunity you chose.

Author:

Roisin Willmott

Publisher:

The Royal Town Planning Institute

Date:

26-Nov-08

Categories:

Planning as a Career 

Sections:

Education & Careers

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