Legal Assistant (Planning & Highways)

Cornwall Council is a large and ambitious Unitary Authority, supported by a welcoming and experienced Legal Service that has a crucial role in providing specialist legal advice to all sectors of the Council, as well as some external organisations.

This is an exciting opening for the right candidate to join our Planning and Highways Legal Team as a Legal Assistant, on a permanent, full-time basis. You’ll have an opportunity to make a difference through supporting on a range of planning, environmental and highways legal work, acting principally for the Council, but also for some external clients.

You will have some ability to work flexibly and from home, and your main office location will be New County Hall, Truro.

Some knowledge and experience of planning law and some experience of project working is desirable, as is an understanding of highways law and the local government regulatory framework. However, training will be given to the successful candidate. You will manage your own caseload, with supervision, but will also work with the Senior Lawyers and Principal Lawyer on more complex matters.

Excellent oral and written communication skills and the ability to work under pressure, and to strict timescales, are a must to ensure that we deliver expert, bespoke advice to our clients. You must be capable of undertaking drafting work and be a pragmatic, hands-on problem solver.

The work of the team is both varied and challenging and you’re likely to be involved in:

Negotiating and drafting Section 106 Agreements, Deeds of Modification and Deeds of Discharge
Researching and providing general planning advice
Advising on Planning Policy and Section 106 monitoring and enforcement
Advising on Planning Enforcement matters
Advising on general Highways Law, including extent of highway and disputes, parking, rights of way and land drainage

If you’re highly motivated and talented and can develop strong client relationships, we’d really like to hear from you.

For a conversation about this role, please contact Ben Curnow, Principal Lawyer, on 01872 322222 + name.

Please view the role profile here, your application will need to demonstrate how you meet the required criteria. Please ensure you answer all of the pre-screening questions in full, within the application form. Guidance on how to complete your application can be found here – The application process

Fairness and inclusion are at the heart of our vision for Cornwall. In order to best serve our communities, we are striving to achieve a diverse workforce that is inclusive of all backgrounds, cultures and identities; e.g. race, disability, sex, gender, age, religion and sexual orientation. We are an equal opportunities and Disability Confident employer, and we will assess applicants on their merits.

Cornwall Council is committed to safeguarding and following safer recruitment principles to help make sure our staff and volunteers are suitable to work with children, young people and adults at risk. It’s a vital part of creating a safe and positive environment and making a commitment to keeping all service users safe from harm.

Whilst the location/work-base for this role has been specified our evolving ways of working means that the role may require you to also work remotely (e.g. from home/other locations). We will discuss this with you during the recruitment process.

This position will be subject to a criminal record disclosure check.

We are happy to talk about flexible working options.

More information about working for Cornwall Council is available here.