June 2008 Issue 1

Planning Changes – Validation Checklist 2008
 
Four Major Problems with the Revised Validation Checklist 2008 and How To Avoid Them…

Remember back in the late 1970’s at a time when punk had peaked, disco was in the rise and the village people were hip. Well at the same time, an outline planning application was a 1/2500 OS plan with a red line around a few acres. Best of all there was no planning fee and approval could be through in 10 weeks. Then the planning fee was introduced.

Move forward almost 30 years. The fees have beaten inflation, to complete a planning application is a feat of endurance and to get the application accepted in less than 10 weeks is a cause for celebration. Well, this April, that process appears to have got worse, the “Validation Checklist” has grown.

New Validation Checklist Requirements – The Problem

On almost all new planning applications, there is a now a local requirement for a

• Flood Risk Assessment
• Drainage Assessment
• Land Contamination Assessment

These new requirements are going to have a major impact on the how developers put together planning applications and how in fact they carry out the initial land acquisitions.
One area of concern could be the appointment of three separate consulting firms to carry out the above assessments. It may also be the case, that when the scheme gains approval, the developer may then need to appoint separate engineering consultants for the structural and highway designs.

The costly and potentially ‘deal stopping’ problems with this route could be:

1. Collective Costs - The collective cost of these consultants may be higher than using one company, eroding your profits.

2. Difficult to Manage - It will be difficult to project manage these separate consultants to meet deadlines, with all of the associated additional cost implications.

3. Conflicting Approaches - The developer will have a vision and outcome for their project, but differing consultants may not be aligned with the developer’s vision, or even each other, causing conflict approaches resulting in cost increases and delays.

4. Commercially Viable Solutions? - The chances that all the separate consultants are commercially aware is lower – which means they may not identify the most cost effective and commercially viable options and approaches.

Consulting Civil, Structural & Geo-Environmental Engineers – The Solution

You can avoid a lot of these potential problems by employing a consultancy that can carry out all of the above pre-planning assessments and design through to completion.

As a consultancy, we are well placed to carry out the full service from land acquisition through to design completion.

What sets us aside from our competitors is that we have a track record of providing tender winning design, by ensuring that we have the right information at day one and create well thought through solutions by:

1. Multi Discipline Approach - Looking at all projects from a multi-disciplined viewpoint so as to manage the client’s requirements. All information produced is accurate, can be used by all team members and is project relevant.

2. Site Specific Solutions - Using our in house Geo-environmental team to design a site-specific investigation. This ensures the right information is obtained for use by our Civil and Structural engineers so that proposed winning solutions are based on site specifics and are meaningful.

3. Creative Problem Solving – For example, can we consider a drainage strategy in accordance with SUDS. We will also check to see if we can re-use existing connections to avoid new road crossings. We will then look at the existing hard surfaces to see if we can minimize surface water attenuation. If we need attenuation, we then look to find the most cost effective solution.

For more information on our Flood Risk Services, Drainage Impact Assessments and Geo-Environmental services contact us on: winmytender@pwaite.co.uk