A master’s, a new job and a railway: Alice on her first year on East West Rail

Alice is a Graduate Town Planner at AtkinsRéalis, based in Birmingham and part of the Planning, Environmental Consenting and Communities team. She joined just over a year ago and completed an MSc in Urban Planning alongside her first year in the job. She works as a Consents Coordinator for the East West Rail Alliance, the project creating a new rail link between Oxford and Cambridge.

You did your master’s while working. How was that?

“I worked here for my first year alongside completing my MSc in Urban Planning, which was really exciting to do at the same time. You get to see and understand how the academic knowledge progresses into real-life projects and day-to-day activities.”

What does a Consents Coordinator actually do?

“I work closely with multidisciplinary teams to coordinate the planning and technical information needed to discharge conditions attached to the approved Transport and Works Act Order, as well as the commitments made to statutory consultees and local stakeholders.

The role gives me the opportunity to work with specialists across numerous disciplines every day- from environmental and engineering teams through to stakeholder engagement. A key part of it is understanding how those different disciplines interact, and how their inputs influence the overall consenting strategy. By bringing those perspectives together I can help identify potential constraints, coordinate solutions and make sure all the necessary requirements are met.”

What’s the part people outside the team never see?

“The amount of work that goes into making a project consentable before any formal application or approval is sought. Long before anything appears on site, or a consultation begins, planners are working with engineers and technical specialists to understand the constraints, opportunities and risks.

Consenting a major infrastructure project isn’t about one design. It’s about bringing together inputs from environmental specialists, engineers, transport planners and landscape architects so the project can satisfy all of its requirements- and even relatively small design changes can have implications for the interrelated disciplines or the planning requirements. So there’s a constant process of review and refinement before anything is discussed publicly.

You’re also always thinking about the long term. Something that could be consented now might not work in future. Every decision is considered not just in terms of how something is built, but how it will operate, interact with surrounding communities and deliver benefits for decades.”

“Even relatively small design changes can have implications right across the disciplines.”

What’s the clearest example you’ve seen of local feedback changing a scheme?

“During consultation on East West Rail, local residents raised concerns about the proposed closure of a pedestrian route that formed an important part of everyday journeys through the community. A key concern was the impact on children travelling to and from school. Although the closure was permitted through the approved TWAO, the feedback highlighted the importance of understanding how local infrastructure is actually used in practice. The project team reviewed how connectivity could be maintained while still achieving the wider objectives of the scheme, and rather than removing access altogether, alternative arrangements were developed, including the diversion of a public right of way.

I wasn’t at the company or on the project during that consultation. But a big part of my role now is understanding those objections and how they shaped the consenting process, even after consent had been secured. I wasn’t there for the objection, but I can see how it changed the proposal.”

“I wasn’t there for the objection, but I can see how it changed the proposal.”

What are you most looking forward to?

“Infrastructure projects can take years to progress through planning and consenting, so the idea of being able to look back and know I’ve played a part in delivering something tangible is really exciting. Eventually travelling on that route knowing I contributed, even in a small way, to making the connection possible would be brilliant. And on a local scale, knowing the commitments put in place through the scheme will have a real effect on people’s everyday lives.”

If you’re early in your planning career and want to work on projects at this scale, we’re recruiting graduate town planners. Explore our open roles.