Planning, development, property and construction.

"Planning shapes the places where people live and work- so it is right that people should take an active part in the process.  Community involvement in plan making is central…." British Government Policy.

Local planning issues are one of the biggest concerns for people and the politicians who represent them. Our specialist planning team do their utmost to help clients overcome these concerns and win planning consent for their developments. Working alongside your technical planning consultants, architects and in-house staff we bring to bear our real experience of the planning process to help get the planning permission your organisation is seeking.  Planning is political. Planning involves human beings and communities. Planning involves much policy.  You need to understand all the challenges facing you if you are to succeed.

Our team members have backgrounds in local government, politics and planning led by Kevin Craig who has nine years experience as an elected Councillor in London government and who chaired for over three years the Planning Committee of the London Borough of Lambeth.  This means we have an in-depth understanding of the issues likely to affect a planning application and the arguments that can bring success.

Securing planning consent now involves a wide variety of factors meaning that the planning application process can be both time consuming and costly.  Often it is the views, aspirations and priorities of decision makers and the communities that they serve that can be critical to whether planning permission is granted.  To that end it is necessary and vital to build an in-depth understanding of the political situation in the area which is achieved by undertaking a political audit.  This will reveal who are the main players and what arguments they will respond positively to.  A good audit will reveal lead Councillors, tricky planning officers, vocal local groups, key policies and hidden dangers to your application.

PLMR also helps provide its clients with the right strategy to obtain planning permission which often needs to have several elements to it.  You may need a targeted media campaign to tackle the concerns of political audiences and local people.  You may need to organise public and stakeholder consultations to increase the understanding of the planning proposal and to show that local concerns have been acknowledged and addressed.

Community relations activity may also be an integral part of your campaign to get planning permission.  This will help you show the wider benefits which the proposed development will bring to the community.  The right community relations activity can demonstrate how developers or planning applicants are approachable and sympathetic to local concerns.   You may also need to activate the support of your current or potential ward councillors.  We can help you do this, whatever their political affiliation.

Obtaining planning permission is a challenge. Don't do it without talking to the people who have been there and done it many many times before.