Applied Through: Experienced Practitioner APC (EP-APC)

Commended: PCS only

Qualifications

Bachelor of Planning (Honours) – University of Auckland

Experiences

While I was studying for my planning degree in New Zealand, I undertook an internship at Waka Kotahi (NZ Transport Agency).  In this role, I worked with the policy and statutory planning teams on a range of projects, including local plan development and responding as a statutory consultee on planning applications. I found an internship really valuable while studying as I was able gain experience and understand how what I was learning through my coursework was applied in practice.

Following graduation, I began work at a multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy Aurecon where I worked in the Environment and Planning team.  As a consultant, I gained substantial experience consenting infrastructure projects as well as inputting into the development of business cases and undertaking Social Impact Assessments. 

I moved to London in 2019 where I have worked for consultancies Jacobs and COWI whilst seconded to the Lower Thames Crossing project. There are opportunities to be involved in a range of planning matters on major projects which I found valuable when it came to identifying case studies to use for my PCS.

Since gaining my chartership, I have moved into the role of Deputy Negotiations Lead to continue engagement with the local authorities and to lead the negotiation of Section 106 agreements.

APC Tips

Make sure all parts of your application speak to each other – it should all read as one submission.  The reflection component of the PCS is valuable and should inform your PDP.  Reflecting on aspects that did not go to plan is just as important to recognise within your submission and development needs should also feed into your PDP.

Range of case studies - use case studies that cover different competencies rather than focusing on including the largest or most complex pieces of work you've done.  Some of the smaller pieces of work I had undertaken more clearly covered the competencies and provided a simpler narrative for the assessor to follow.  I found it helpful to map out the competencies within each case study before drafting my PCS.  Make sure you read and re-read the APC Main Guidance as there are some helpful tips in there.

Wording from the competency - use some of the key terminology from each of the competencies outlined in the APC Main Guidance throughout the submission.  I received feedback from my mentor on the first draft of my submission that I was being too implicit, and it was not always clear which competencies I was addressing within each case study.  It's worth being as clear as possible (even if it feels like you are stating the obvious) rather than relying on the assessor to read between the lines.