Hedley Planning Services works closely with clients to fully understand the brief. We ensure that our initial guidance allows a smooth transition through the complex planning process, but critically, we provide an honest professional opinion of the likelihood of securing consent ahead of launching into costly preparation of site investigations, detailed plans etc. We will make arrangements to collate supporting evidence (from our network of contacts) suitable for validation requirements and manage the formal submission on your behalf.

Hedley Planning will monitor the application through the determination period ensuring that any statutory consultee responses whether positive or negative are promptly dealt with. We will also present your case robustly at Planning Committee and ensure that queries on the day are answered thoroughly.

Conditions and legal agreements should not be an afterthought. We engage with the LPA at pre-application stage and throughout the determination period to ensure the most favourable, deliverable and cost effective consent is delivered.

We have experience in all types of development including residential, retail, commercial, industrial, leisure and tourism schemes.

Hedley Planning Services will seek to maximise your chance of success at the application stage, but in the event permission is refused or the Council failed to reach a decision within the required timescale, we can provide guidance and advice on the prospect of appealing against the decision (or lack of) or revising your proposals to ensure a greater chance of success. We’ll advise on an appeal and act for you through to a decision. Appeals can be in written evidence, by informal hearing or by a public inquiry.

We can advise on the most appropriate form of appeal and present your case to the Planning Inspector in a clear and concise manner. You must lodge an appeal within six months of the date of decision (or expected determination date) unless your proposal is for household development where appeals must be lodged within 12 weeks.

The costs and benefits of the three methods vary, and Hedley Planning Services can advise the best method. We will submit the appeal, providing evidence, supporting documents and giving you the advice you need. We will put the strongest case to the Planning Inspectorate and can call on and act as expert witness at inquiries if required.

Hedley Planning Services are experienced at strategic land promotion, including Green Belt release, making robust cases for release of land through Local Plans reviews. We can help identify suitable sites, evidence need and unlock the potential. We understand the cycle of local plan preparation and can advise at any point how to make effective representations to Local Planning Authorities for allocations in policy documents in emerging development plans. Our representations are aimed at helping landowners, developers, housebuilders or individuals to secure land allocations for housing, employment, retail, community, recreational or mixed use development.

To give sites the best chance of success it must be fully supported through each stage of the LDF process. We can make comments to documents and emerging policy and we will help you actively promote your site proposal to justify the main principles for development for the site. This is key for sites to be included within the final Local Plan. The strategic land promotion service includes:

• Preparation of all supporting documents involving establishing a multi-disciplinary team comprising a number of consultants who can prepare the required specialist reports
• Prepare needs assessments, 5 year land supply arguments and Green Belt vision documents
• Use of relevant case law to strengthen and support your application
• Liaison and negotiation with the statutory authorities to ensure your representations are viewed in a favourable light
• Development of a strategic plan of action to best promote your site

The land needed to enable the implementation of major development schemes cannot always be acquired by agreement and the use of compulsory purchase powers is often required. Similarly the formal stopping-up of Public Highways or other access routes may also be needed. We provide planning advice in:

• Presentation of expert planning evidence at public inquiries
• Advice to Acquiring Authorities /Affected Landowners with regard to planning assumptions to underpin assessment of land value
• Preparation and submission of Applications and Appeals for Certificates of Appropriate Alternative Development

Hedley Planning Services has many years of engagement and consultation experience and we believe this is key to achieving successful planning decisions. We are involved in engagement strategies for strategic site allocations, liaison with key stakeholders and providing advice on consultation methodologies to deliver complex planning permissions.

Principal areas of involvement are:

• Establishing the engagement strategy
• Communication and organisation
• Exhibitions, workshops and meetings
• Liaison with key stakeholders
• Mitigation and publicity

These stages are planned and executed carefully to reflect the challenges of each project. Each stage is crucial to achieving a successful result and consultation is now an increasingly important part of the planning application process under the new localism agenda.

We can assist in the sale of land, with or without planning permission, by providing planning reports and due diligence. We also have a wide client base in all sectors and have close working relationships with land agents and developers, which contributes to ensuring mutually beneficial sales.

Our services cover a range of land-use planning considerations targeting site betterment and we provide highly experienced professional advice from a commercially aware team of planners who have an extensive understanding and wide reaching experience of all aspects of the planning process.

We work closely with clients to ensure suitable planning consents are delivered, we seek to ensure planning conditions attached to a permission are reasonable and deliverable and we seek to ensure delivery is not unreasonably withheld through the imposition of unnecessary pre-commencement conditions. We seek to enable swift delivery of the necessary details to allow your project to commence on site without unnecessary delay.