Applied through: Associate APC route

Commended: PCS

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Fine Arts - University of New South Wales
• Master of Regional Planning- Cornell University, USA

Experience

After leaving school I completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sydney, in my native Australia. I was inspired to become a planner after moving to London in 2007, where I worked in the Learning Department at the Victoria and Albert Museum. My very supportive manager, who was aware of my interest in planning, encouraged me to do undertake a research study on the museum’s public spaces, which was later published in the Museum’s online journal.

In 2012 my husband and I moved to upstate New York, where I studied for my Masters in Regional Planning at Cornell University. My student visa allowed me to work in the United States for one year, and after graduating in 2014, I was offered a position with HUNT Engineers near the City of Corning, where I prepared comprehensive plans for local governments. Planners in the US are at the forefront of advocating for more sustainable development patterns, often with tools (such as zoning) that are still very much geared towards a 20^th Century worldview and are notoriously difficult to change. It was a fascinating experience to work in a predominantly rural area interspersed with historic towns and cities still marked by misguided urban renewal policies of the postwar era, which privileged highway development and eroded urban neighbourhoods all over the United States.

After moving back to the UK in 2015, I worked at Rapleys LLP in Manchester for just over three years, where I gained experience in retail and residential development and worked hard to get my head around the UK planning system. I moved to Arup (Manchester) in late 2018, where I have diversified my experience in health and education development and planning policy. I also lead the Education, Careers and Mentoring Task Group of the RTPI’s North West Regional Activities Committee.

APC tips

• See it as a test of your writing skills. The challenge of the APC is to prepare a submission that is both rich and illustrative while also being clear and concise. It needs to provide a compelling summary of your contribution to assessors who have no prior knowledge about you. Help them by explaining the context of your case studies, and don’t expect them to read between the lines. You may feel like you’re stating the obvious sometimes – that’s okay.
  
  
• Get the basics right. Following the formatting instructions is one of the easiest ways to demonstrate that you’ve read the guidance. It’s important to use footnotes to link the various pieces of your submission together and help the assessors to navigate through your work. Making use of references and providing a bibliography will make your submission more meaningful and shows theoretical understanding.
  
  
• Be choosy with examples. It’s tempting to add as many examples as possible to show you’re meeting the competencies. Instead, it’s important to use examples that best illustrate what you’re trying to say. Further detail can be added to your log book or reflective journal.
  
  
• Make it unique to you. It can be helpful to read other successful submissions to understand how people approach the competencies, but it’s ultimately a submission about you and should reflect your personality and your career journey.