And now KCC are giving Imperial free staff

It’s all just an idea, you understand, and no-one has made up their minds about anything. All the same, Kent County Council intend to spend your tax money on providing Imperial with a free employee to work on the plan to break conventional planning regulations and build on the AONB in Wye.

Unbelievable? You’d think so. But a private in-house job ad has just gone up inside KCC’s Environment and Regeneration unit… for someone to go and work on secondment with Imperial to further the Wye Park project.

No point in looking on the public website for the post… it’s not there

Don’t look for the advert on KCC’s public jobs site, because you won’t find it. The e-mail below is strictly inhouse, inviting applications for a ‘secondment opportunity’ within the environment and regeneration directorate. The lucky person will work for two to three days a week with Imperial in Wye and the rest of the time with the rural regeneration team at Invicta House, Maidstone. The only part of Wye that actually needs regeneration at the moment is the college itself, of course, since it has been methodically run down by Imperial over the years. But don’t expect that to be part of the brief.

Instead the secondee will be offered ‘a unique opportunity to work on an exciting and emerging agenda to establish Kent as a centre of national and international excellence for non-food crops’… destroying an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty along the way. The pay will range between £22,813 and £25,800 and, since this is a KCC appointment, we have to assume it is all coming out of our rates. Odd, if this is really just an idea being explored, don’t you think? But given that KCC gets £1.5 billion of public money a year to do its job, just a drop in the ocean.

Here are the gory details…

Subject: Secondment Opportunity
Importance: Low
A secondment opportunity has arisen within E & R – please see details below.
Project Officer – Kent Non-Food Crops. Based at 2nd Floor, Invicta House/ Imperial College Wye.
Indicative pay-points: 26-30 (£22,813 – £25,800)
A unique opportunity to work on an exciting and emerging agenda to establish Kent as a centre of national and international excellence for non-food crops.

Key Tasks:

• Providing a point of liaison between the Kent-non food crops steering group and the global non-food crop centre initiative
• Setting up the global non-food crops office at Wye
• Authoring project briefs and taking forward funding applications etc
• Working with the Kent Non-Food Crops Project Manager and the Global Non-Food Crops Manager to co-ordinate efforts and support the work of the Kent Non-Food Crops Steering Group
• Contributing to wider rural regeneration projects (2-3 days week)

Skills you need:

• Fast learner – must be able to quickly grasp an emerging agenda, and develop a good working knowledge of non-food crops
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Ability to work with people at all levels and within a high profile environment
• Excellent communication skills (written and verbal) with an ability to develop project briefs, take forward funding applications etc
• Team player with experience of working in with partnerships

This secondment is for 1 year, full-time:
2-3 days per week at Imperial College Wye
2-3 days a week at Invicta House within the Rural Regeneration Team
Starting June 2006
Application deadline: 5 May 2006
For more details please contact Liz Craven, 01622 221381 or Stuart Gibbons, Head of Rural Regeneration (01622 221958)
If you wish to apply, please complete the attached application form and email or send to Liz Craven (2nd floor, Invicta House)