Karen Leeder
Position - Team Leader Established Areas
Department– Strategic Planning
Directorate – Planning and Development
A city that's growing fast needs a creative team of planners to keep ahead of the spread. Karen is a senior strategic planner with the City of Whittlesea specialising in major projects, but planners get involved in all manner of things ranging from policy development and re-zoning, to developer contributions and applying the regulations.
"I prepare local structure plans in-house and get to implement them in the field. We take a holistic approach and work with staff throughout the organisation on various aspects of the planning including community consultation to develop these initial plans. "Working in local government has given me the opportunity to experience the full breadth of the planning profession. The thing about being a town planner is that you work directly with the community, State Government agencies, consultancies as well as major developers on projects right from conception through to delivery.
"I started working in local government, then spent some time working in the private sector as well as overseas. I made a conscious decision to move back into local government at the City of Whittlesea because it offers an amazing range of diverse projects, and I am given a high level of autonomy and responsibility to deliver real outcomes. At the City of Whittlesea we do a lot of our major projects in-house – this is something that really sets us apart from many other councils."
"One of the major projects I am currently coordinating is the Epping Transit City project." "The purpose of the project is to help create a vibrant, sustainable community based on improved access to, and integration of transport, residential, employment opportunities, community services and facilities."
"I find the organisation is really supportive of its staff. I really like the corporate health program, particularly the opportunity to go to the gym at lunch times as part of the discounted gym membership for staff."
