Spotlight On: Ryan Norman - Lead Forward Plans Officer

So, you work in the planning team. What do the planning team do?

As a team we’re split into two main functions - Development Control and Forward Plans. Development Control involves liaising with customers on pre-planning enquiries and new sewer connections, as well as responding to planning application consultations from Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) on the capability of our networks to accommodate new development. I lead the Forward Plans team and our main focus is on liaising with LPAs on their Local Development Plans (LDP). By working out where development is planned across our operational area, we then also inform Welsh Water’s investment plan of which areas we choose to invest in. This is key to understanding as a wider company where we need to be investing into and growing our network.

What does an average day in your role involve?

Typically my day starts with me trying to clear out my email inbox and having a catch up with some of the planning team. Then from 10am is when my meetings start, which can range from growth collaborative meetings between our asset management and wastewater assets teams to discuss our investment programme to an all Wales Special Areas of Conservation meeting on the phosphates issue and LDP forums with various LPAs. Each LPA has their own LDP which plans where they’re going to allocate future sites for new development in the next few years. A key part of my role is to work closely with each LPA and analyse their proposals to inform our capital investment programme.

Can you tell us more about the current guidance from NRW around phosphates and developments?

Earlier this year, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) published advice around nine riverine Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) in Wales, which are designated to protect wildlife. Since then, we’ve had a lot of queries around new development in these areas.

NRW's advice requires LPAs to screen any development that increases the volume of wastewater, to try and stop phosphate levels increasing. Developers can mitigate the increase of phosphates and need to outline to the LPA how they will do this. One form of mitigation is if their development site is located in a Wastewater Treatment Works (WwTW) catchment that has a phosphorous permit attached, which means we strip the phosphate out of the wastewater before it is discharged. However, only approximately 50 out of the approximately 300 impacted works have phosphate permits.

We’re therefore working on a river modelling exercise in conjunction with NRW to determine whether our phosphate removal investment for our current and next asset management plan (AMP) period is targeted in the right places. As well as this, it’s important that all parties develop a range of sustainable solutions like the use of wetlands.

How have you survived lockdown?

As I have two kids, I’ve been lucky enough to spend a lot of time either home schooling or playing with them. My eldest has just finished his first year of school and my youngest is only 16 months old so my wife was on maternity leave until March 2021. With four of us at home while I was trying to work from home for the first time, my manager was great at enabling me to work whenever I could, meaning I often did some shifts after the kids had gone to bed.

TV wise, we’ve really got into This Is Us on Amazon Prime. If you haven’t watched it, it’s very easy watching and follows one family over a thirty-year period. I don’t want anything too challenging after a long day!