Recreation Ranger (Chilterns)
| Posting date: | 06 January 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £29,171 to £29,171 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 02 February 2025 |
| Location: | HP22 5NF |
| Company: | Government Recruitment Service |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 381609/1 |
Summary
You will manage, promote and develop recreation facilities and opportunities and will work with a range of volunteers and partners to achieve this.
You will support the introduction of car parking charges and other income generating activities.
About Us
East England Forest District, covers an area of 35,000 hectares from North Norfolk to Brighton; including Thetford Forest and the outlying beats of Sandlings, Kent, East Sussex, Chilterns and Thames Chase Community Forest.
There are numerous sites of conservation interest designated across the District, including Special Protection Areas to conserve the breeding habitat for the Woodlark and Nightjar, Special Areas of Conservation, Sites of Specific Scientific Interest, Areas of Outstanding National Beauty, Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland, County Wildlife Sites and Scheduled Monuments.
The District offers outdoor recreation, leisure and wellbeing activities for hundreds of thousands of people each year at its recreation centres. Forestry England’s whole freehold estate is dedicated for public access on foot, with numerous small carparks and informal access points.
This post is based at the Chilterns office near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire with a requirement to travel to work in other beat woodlands and on occasion elsewhere in East Forest District. The Chilterns beat comprises 3000 hectares of woodland set over 63 woodlands, extending through Berkshire, South Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Herefordshire and Bedfordshire. Meetings and training events may take place in other parts of the country.
• Demonstrate a strong safety culture within the site team and ensure your behaviour matches Forestry England’s values, attitudes and commitment to health and safety.
• Understand and comply with legislation, policy and promote best practice by following relevant PPG’s.
• Implement the inspection regime to ensure safety of recreation facilities and ensure all works are conducted in compliance with our health & safety polices and suitably supervised. You will be required to use your own initiative, engage with, and supervise the beat craftsperson team, volunteer groups and contractors. Coordinate with the Craftspersons and their works programme where appropriate.
• Support the introduction of carparking charges and infrastructure. Seek opportunities for other income generating activities, such as mobile food and beverage concessions and commercial filming. Lead and manage permissions for 3rd party events and activities in the beat.
• Proactively work with the Operations Manager and Beat Manager to identify new recreation opportunities and update existing facilities (for example, new trails) through relevant processes.
• Working to your delegated financial limits procure goods and services to ensure value for money and conducted in a fair, open and transparent manner. Act as Contract Manager taking responsibility for the day-to-day management of the performance and administration of contracts and for the relationship with the contractor (e.g. Pre-Commencement Meetings, risk assessments, site diaries, and site safety rules).
• Create opportunities for volunteers to contribute towards the development and maintenance of the recreation offer. Engage with new and existing volunteer groups and work with the wildlife ranger to identify conservation and public engagement opportunities.
• Provide input and feedback to upcoming Forest Management operations, identify and work with the team to resolve potential recreation issues and support opportunities that may arise from operations. Engage with the public and respond to public enquiries, act as a Forestry England presence at beat sites.
• Delivering at Pace: - Plan ahead and manage time effectively when carrying out your work across the Beat. Optimise site visits to ensure time on site is productive.
• Work to ensure annual Tree Safety inspections are completed and remedial work completed to the agreed frequency. Undertake tree safety inspections as part of the annual programme and assist the Works Supervisor in managing tree surgeon contractors.
• Use Forestry England incident reporting system to record incidents, accidents and near misses linked to facilities. When requested lead on the investigation, identify recommendations and lessons learnt.
• Proactively seek to gather insight through communications with visitors and neighbours to understand opportunities, address concerns and educate where necessary. Support the wider beat team to appropriately address issues of antisocial behaviour.
• Deputise for the Operations Manager / Beat Manager when requested.
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