"The most brilliant things about this job" - London Borough of Brent

The masterplan to deliver 3,000 new homes at Staples Corner was two-and-a-half years in the making. Brent Council Regeneration Manager Kiran Chauhan describes her role in it, her pride in its adoption last November, and the joy she takes in testing ideas, and discovering innovations, that come from gathering different talents and experiences in collaboration to squeeze as much as possible out of constrained sites.

That and the fulfilment from reassuring local people, about the benefits they will derive from growth, more than make up for the frustrations: staff turnover, the effort to keep abreast of legislation and planning rules and “having to be an expert on everything”.