Introduction
Local authorities manage various kinds of recreational
areas that are open to all members of the community to enjoy,
including parks, gardens, playground and golf courses. Area amenity
officers working in a council's parks and open spaces department
contribute to their upkeep and maintenance.
Work Environment
Area amenity officers do not spend as much time out of
doors as their job title implies. Although they do go out regularly
to visit and inspect facilities, they spend a lot of time in the
council offices or at meetings.
Daily Activities
Area amenity officers are often involved in monitoring
and supervising contracts for maintenance work being carried out in
parks and open spaces. This includes:
- ensuring that the council obtains value for money in its
contracts;
- ensuring that contractors work to specified quality
standards;
- making site visits to check the work is being done properly
with the correct equipment and to agreed timescales;
- imposing fines on contractors if work is not being carried out
properly;
- dealing with contractors' invoices and authorising them for
payment.
They are also responsible for making sure that health and safety
regulations are obeyed in parks and open spaces and that there are
no dangers to the public. Some of this work is routine such
as making sure that warning notices about deep water are in place,
or that dangerous trees are lopped or removed. Other
situations arise as emergencies. After a storm for example,
they might receive information about fallen trees or floods and
have to ensure that parks' dangerous areas are cordoned off and
warnings are posted.
Another part of the work involves undertaking research to see
whether facilities can be improved and what improvements local
residents would like to have made. They might undertake
surveys of the numbers and types of users, issue questionnaires or
attend meetings of local residents' associations. As a result
they might recommend changing the layout of some areas of a park,
re-siting some attractions, introducing food and drink outlets or
adding children's playgrounds. They could decide to recommend
that some parks become nature reserves, perhaps with a network of
guided walks and trails; others ornamental parks with formal
flowerbeds and seats. They might decide to introduce maintenance
and conservation programmes for volunteers.
Skills & Interests
Area amenity officers need:
Entry Requirements
Requirements may vary from council to council - some may
ask for relevant degrees or diplomas in, for example, leisure and
recreation management, horticulture, landscape management or
business studies. Others may expect an A-level or equivalent
standard of education.
For some roles previous relevant experience may be just as
important as qualifications.
Future Prospects & Opportunities
A small council might employ one or two area amenity
officers and one manager. In a large council there might be
several managers, each responsible for a large geographical area
and having three or four area officers in their team.
There are prospects of promotion to senior manager level and
then to director of leisure and community services/Director of
arts, heritage and leisure. (Titles vary in different
councils.)
Further Information & Services
Chartered Institute forthe Management of Sport &
Physical Activity
www.cimspa.co.uk
Lantra www.lantra.co.uk
You may find further information about this area of work through
Careers Wales (www.careerswales.com/)
or in your local library, careers office or school careers
library.