What Makes Great Planning? Part 2: Great Strategic Thinking
Posted on 23rd January 2024 at 14:48
1. Good development starts with the right type of development for your land – a scheme which will be most likely to get permission as it makes sense given the location and nature of the site. Ensuring that the scale/quality of development is appropriate to that community and fits local planning policy to build a strong case and reduce risk of refusal.
2. Knowing how to promote land by having a detailed knowledge of the planning policy framework and the rules which guide it through the detailed processes. Furthermore, knowing how to apply the policies set out at the national, local and neighbourhood level.
3. Key is the Local Plan development which goes through a 5-year cycle led by the Local Planning Authority. Representing your site effectively in Local Plan/Nighbourhood Plan is an important part of the long-term process and demonstrating the strengths of a site:
a. How will it fit within existing built framework
b. Is it brownfield and has had previous development
c. What development opportunities does the site benefit from?
4. Continuously monitoring all the local plan cycles across different local authorities to ensure that we are aware of all possible opportunities to promote a site. Knowledge is power!
5. Knowing WHEN to promote ensures the greatest chance of success. Once a local plan has been adopted (ie passed the Government Inspector’s approval), any sites which have not been included can only be considered, where the plan has been proven not to be delivering the development numbers to which the authority has committed (known as the ‘5 Year Land Supply’). Understanding the prevailing planning climate is critical and timing of an application is key!
6. Thinking creatively how development can benefit community. Identifying deficiencies in infrastructure and the needs the Local Planning Authority is seeking to deliver.
7. Have a clear understanding of and strategy for the economics of a proposed development. It is important to balance the likelihood of getting a successful outcome, with the value of a potential development - whether in terms of the scale of the development (number of houses/housing mix) or the level of community benefit the scheme will deliver, with associated costs/loss of value.
8. Make sure the design of any scheme is of high quality, the housing mix, a well-designed layout, imaginative landscaping, accessibility – roads and paths, amenity features etc. Create places people want to live, and where planners will want to grant planning permission.
Tagged as: Getting Planning Permission, Planning and Development, Planning Consultancy, Strategic Planning, Top Tips For Planning Permission
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