Senior Council Planners Awarded Master’s Degree

Newry, Mourne and Down District Council senior planner Ashley Donaldson recently graduated with distinction from Queen’s University with a Master’s Degree in Planning Development.

Ashley works with the Council’s enforcement team across the organisation’s sites in Newry and Downpatrick and is one of several planning department members to graduate from Queen’s.

Annamarie Loughan and Sorcha O’Beirne completed the same degree course as Ashley but were not working with the Council when they commenced their studies

In addition to receiving his degree last December, Ashley was also presented with the EPLANI award for planning skills and ethics by William Orbinson KC at his graduation.

Ashley signed up for the Council’s Employee Qualification Scheme (EQA) and is grateful to the organisation for allowing him to balance his day job and work commitments and also help pay for his tuition fees.

Working four days a week for the Council, the fifth was spent studying at Queen’s and with two young children, Ashley admits it was challenging at times, but he got through the two-year course with the support of his family, council colleagues and fellow graduates.

Council chairperson, Philip Campbell, has congratulated Ashley and the other members of the Planning Team on their academic achievements.

“Working full-time and studying for a master’s degree is particularly challenging. It takes dedication and determination to commit to part-time study over two years while holding down a full-time a job,” he said.

“Ashley’s success illustrates how valuable the EQA scheme is, allowing staff to combine their jobs to build on their academic success.”

Ashey said he is grateful to the Council for its support through the EQA scheme which he described as a “tremendous help”,

He continued: “I was able to work and study and, due to the financial support I received from my employer, I’m not facing student debt. I also had time off work to take my exams, and the 20 years’ planning experience behind me was really beneficial to completing the course successfully.”

And the senior planner is encouraging his council colleagues to consider adding to their qualifications and combining studying with a full-time career to apply for the EQA scheme.

Ashley said his Queen’s degree introduced him to fellow graduates who came from a range of backgrounds, helping him establish new friends and networks.

He continued: “The course helped develop new skills and the experience of studying alongside people from a range of different professions has been invaluable.”

Last year marked a decade of service with the Council, with Ashley joining the organisation following the Review of Public Administration (RPA) when local councils were handed responsibility for planning and a range of other services following the biggest shake-up of local government in decades.

Reducing the number of district councils from 26 to 11 and handing them responsibility for new services, was a major change, with Ashley, who previously worked for the Department of Environment (DoE), embracing it.

His working career began as a forklift truck driver in a Homebase warehouse, but it was not what Ashley wanted to do long term.

He applied for a job as a trainee civil engineer with the former Department for Regional Development and while unsuccessful, he subsequently secured a job with the DoE Planning Service as a trainee planning assistant in 2003 (making him the youngest planner in the public sector in Northern Ireland at that time) and studied part-time at Belfast Metropolitan College for four years.

Ashley was awarded a Higher National Certificate in Planning and then progressed to become a Professional and Technical Officer in DoE Planning Service.

For a short time, Ashley was seconded to Land and Property Services, working on farm maps for the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, before returning to his planning post within the DoE Planning Service in Craigavon.

RPA saw Ashley come under the umbrella of the newly created Newry, Mourne and Down District Council and, a decade on, he enjoys his work and is grateful for the opportunity the organisation gave him to combine his day job and university study to enhance his educational qualifications.

Ashley added: “Combining full-time employment with part-time study was challenging at times, but the support of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council made a huge difference and helped me complete the course successfully.”