Young Planner of the Year Winner
Nick Salt
Nick is a Senior Planner with Turley.
Nick’s town planning journey has been somewhat unconventional but has shaped his approach to his work for the better. He graduated with an undergraduate degree in Politics, and worked in the world of politics for a period, with a stint in a car dealership beforehand. During the course of this role, local planning issues regularly cropped up, and piqued Nick’s interest in the purpose of planning, public perception of the profession and its role in society. Having known very little about planning, the Planning and Development MSc conversion course provided an opportunity to explore a potential career in planning. Having graduated with a Distinction in 2017, Nick took up a role with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive before catching the ferry to the Isle of Man where he worked as a Planning Officer in 2018 and 2019. Planning on ‘the Island’ provided an invaluable opportunity to ‘get stuck in’ to all types of schemes, present at planning committee, attend appeal hearings and travel all over the island speaking with business owners, residents and agents concerned with planning applications. Nick then moved back home to Northern Ireland just before the outbreak of Covid-19, and worked at Capita as a Planning Consultant and then Senior Planning Consultant from late 2019 until early 2022. Nick began working with Turley as a Senior Planner in January 2022, working with both the Ireland and the Midlands planning teams. Nick was most recently involved in the NI Young Planners Committee and is currently Junior Vice Chair on the NI Executive Committee.
Judges‘ comment: "Nick has managed to gain a great wealth and breadth of experience over his short career to date. Nick's role as the APC mentor and coordinator reflects his enthusiasm to encourage and develop the skills of graduate and more junior planners. Nick is an active member of the local RTPI branch, siting on both the Executive Committee and Young Planners Committee. Again, demonstrating his commitment to improving and promoting the planning profession"
Commended: Sophie Burch received a commendation in this category