Planning - How We Can Help

Our first goal is always to understand what you’re aiming to do and why. Is it that your business is performing well and needs new premises or have you seen in a gap in the market to provide a needed service in the area?

We can help advise on whether or not you need planning permission, along with any local or national requirements that will need to be met through any subsequent planning application.

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Residential

Our comprehensive planning and management services for residential developments ensure seamless project delivery and high-quality, sustainable results.

Commercial

Providing expert building services and advisory for commercial properties, we help you optimise performance and maximise returns on your investment.

Heritage

Combining specialist knowledge with a deep respect for historical integrity, we deliver tailored solutions to preserve and enhance the value of your heritage assets.

For more on when you might need us

As independent planning consultants, we work with architects, councils and clients, like you, and can provide advice on:

  • Whether you will need planning permission.
  • What your Local Authority is likely to require to support your planning application.
  • Whether your proposal meets local and national requirements.

In addition, we can:

  • Write documents highlighting why your application should be approved.
  • Submit your application and liaise with the Local Authority on your behalf.
  • Recommend additional consultants such as ecologists and highways specialists to create a strong team improving the quality of the application submitted.

We will ensure you are fully informed at each stage of the process and understand what’s required.  

We have recently worked on projects from Edinburgh to Cornwall and Cardiff to Southend, so wherever you are in the country, we can help.

Initial Advice

As a planning consultant, we know where to look for the information you need to know the best way to progress with your project.

We can provide information on:

  • Whether your project is located within an area of special designation such as the green belt, a conservation area or is a listed building. We can also explain the impact of the designation on your project.

  • Whether your project would be considered Permitted Development. We will verify the type of property, what is proposed and where the project is located to provide accurate information on whether or not you can use Permitted Development Rights for your project or if planning permission is required.

  • What needs to be considered through the project, additional reports which might be required and an idea of the likely success of any planning application submitted.

Supporting Documents

As well as ensuring that full requirements are met, the content and quality of the documents prepared to support a planning application, is often key to the success of a planning application. They are your opportunity to demonstrate why permission should be granted and address any concerns that the Local Authority may have.

We can provide the following:

  • A Planning Statement – At the basic level this provides details of the proposed project and how it addresses local planning policy and why the application should be approved. It can also include the Design and Access Statement, Sustainable Drainage Statement and others depending on the project and the local authority’s requirements.

  • A Heritage Statement – This would include details of how the project impacts any heritage assets, if the impact is positive or negative, how any negative impact has been mitigated and why the application should still be approved.

  • Liaison with third party consultants – For any reports which require different areas of expertise such as ecology or flood risk, we can support the selection and management of third party consultants to provide the reports required.

Full Process Management

If time and money are at a premium and you want to have the best chance of a successful application the first time you apply, let us handle the whole process for you. From the design process through to submission we can provide all you need to progress, except, of course, for the fees payable to the Local Authority!

We can provide:

  • Preparation of the required supporting documents including liaison with third party consultants to meet the local authority’s requirements.

  • Preparation of the planning application forms, submission of the application and subsequent liaison with the Local Authority.

  • Advice on the next steps after a decision is received including advice on discharging any planning conditions, or in the case of a refusal, advice on whether to appeal or reapply.

Ongoing Support

Sometimes you have more than one project and require ongoing support.

  • Let us be your trusted contact, the person you pick up the phone to when you just want to check if something needs planning permission or similar.

  • We can provide a dedicated resource to support your planning requirements without your team needing to take away time from their day jobs.

  • Engage someone who knows the planning system, is in the loop for policy changes and can provide you with the confidence you need to take projects forward.

Recent projects include:

  • Listed Building Consent

  • Extensions to various Commercial Units

  • Change of Use of Commercial to Sui Generis

  • Change of Use to a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO)

  • New Shop Fronts

  • Advertisement Consent

Let us help you with your:

  • Pre-Application Advice Request

  • Planning Application

  • Listed Building Consent

  • Prior Approval Process

  • Certificate of Lawful Development

  • Advertisement Consent

For more on when you might need us

Get in Touch.

We’d love to hear from you. For a friendly chat or to request a consultation, please complete the form, and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible