Planning, permitting, and consents
Environmental, social, and economic requirements must be balanced when making decisions about land use, urban design, and infrastructure.
Handled badly, planning processes can result in objections from individuals, community, and special interest groups, local businesses, statutory authorities, and regulators. This can lead to delay, reputational risk, increased costs, or even refusal of consents and permits.
When handled well, the planning process can facilitate faster and more efficient delivery, better societal and environmental outcomes, and ultimately reputational and commercial advantage.
To achieve planning success, it’s necessary to look at a broad range of scientific, technical, and social issues and to bring in the expertise of environmental planners, engineers, climate and sustainability experts, social value experts, and others.
You need people who can help you see not just your own ultimate objective but also the objectives of the many different parties with whom you and your project interface — and find good outcomes for all.
What can we do for you?
We have planning teams worldwide. Our professionals are closely connected, able to draw on expertise in every market and discipline. Thanks to our technical diversity and excellence, we have a wealth of transferable experience and knowledge.
Highly efficient coordination
By bringing together a full range of planning expertise — master planning, social impact assessment, environmental assessment, equality and accessibility assessment — from our deep bench of professionals, we are able to coordinate better planning more efficiently.
Unrivalled range and depth of expertise
Combining our core planning expertise with the knowledge and skills of our specific sector experts — professionals experienced in buildings, defense and security, energy, health, transportation, and water — we take an integrated approach from day one, to shape better projects.
Our planning expertise is also augmented by industry-leading capabilities in environmental assessment and management, biodiversity and nature, accessibility, inclusion and equity, social value, and stakeholder consultation — all the inputs required for planning success.
Reduced costs and accelerated schedules
Because our planners can call on the in-house expertise of our sector experts, we minimize the overlap in responsibilities and can move much more quickly to deliver informed, consistent advice and develop bespoke development plans. This greater efficiency reduces costs and enhances the value we bring to you.
Navigating planning, permitting, and consents for success
Planning begins at a project’s earliest stages. We help you map all the risks and considerations that are critical to smoothly obtaining planning consent and progressing projects to operation.
Our planning experts identify opportunities not only to increase the certainty of approval but also to reduce costs, accelerate development timetables, and deliver on the business case. We do this as part of a broader, joined-up multidisciplinary approach, including our expertise in environmental impact and management services.
Our experience
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A303 Sparkford to Ilchester improvements, UKOur joint venture with Sweco provided planning, design, and environmental assessment input to support the development of a nationally significant infrastructure project to construct a divided highway on the A303 between Sparkford and Ilchester, to alleviate congestion and queuing. We provided extensive support for this complex project, including stakeholder engagement and public consultation along with robust environmental assessment and design to ensure a high-quality application. We took it through the options identification and assessment, preferred route announcement, development consent order application, and examination stages.
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Bristol Temple Quarter, UKWorking with Bristol City Council, Network Rail, Homes England, and the West of England Combined Authority, we led the development and design of a master plan for the refurbishment of Bristol’s iconic grade I listed rail station, alongside improvements to accessibility, inclusivity, and connectivity, and the creation of urban spaces for 22,000 new jobs and 10,000 homes.
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California High-Speed Rail, USAMott MacDonald provided permitting and right-of-way acquisition services for three segments of the system, each with challenging elements. Palmdale to Los Angeles (65 miles) includes challenging terrain, major seismic fault lines, and densely populated cities. Fresno to Palmdale (162 miles) crosses the Mojave Desert and prime farmland. Los Angeles to Orange County (30 miles) is already used by Amtrak and Metrolink commuter trains.
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ElecLink, UKWe oversaw the planning application and environmental impact assessment for a new interconnector using the Channel Tunnel to connect the French and UK national electricity networks. Through early engagement with the UK energy ministry, we ensured this project was compliant with new EU legislation and secured permission without a lengthy development consent order process.
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Rapid Charging, London, UKFor this new network of rapid electric charging points across London, we developed the planning and engagement strategy in partnership with borough authorities and formulated the site selection strategy with the contractor to bring planning constraints to the front end to speed up project delivery. We delivered over 50 planning approvals in six months.
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Shoreham Harbour flood alleviation, Sussex, UKIn this project to provide flood protection over 7.2 km of river frontage, we developed planning applications and managed the contractor. The project prioritized environmental, landscape, and ecological enhancement, even as we delivered best value engineering solutions.
Land Management
Land Management captures and makes available information about land ownership and access that is essential for smooth project development. The solution records and provides instant access to these details, plus information on surveys and stakeholder communications.
People and Planet
People and Planet demonstrates and quantifies social and environmental outcomes. It combines publicly available data with project data to assess social and environmental factors alongside project priorities. Risks and opportunities are displayed on maps and dashboards, empowering decisions that create long-term benefits for people and the planet.
