Development projects are never without their challenges and difficult to manage. From local authorities demands to co-ordinating the range of experts and information required, the path from design to project completion is filled with difficult hurdles.

Inadequate or poor planning will pave the road to disaster in virtually all development activities. Knowing your way around Scotland’s planning and consenting system is not just fundamental to getting things right. It can have a massive and highly positive impact on the speed with which consents are obtained and the profitability of a project. In the more controversial cases, involving issues where lobby groups in specific areas have well advertised positions against development of most types, proper advice can be the difference between success and failure.

The planning and environmental consultancy, VG Consulting, understands the challenges build projects face throughout housing, telecoms and renewable energy projects. As the company’s Managing Director, Dave Anderson explains "Many developers simply do not have the internal resources to provide the full scope of preparatory planning work required to present a council planning department with all the information they need to reach a positive decision.

"We were frequently contacted by clients and partners who wanted support with projects and were about to put forward for consent, or needed advice during the build process.

"In many cases, what was clear to us was that they had barely scratched the surface when it comes to giving planners the information they need, or considering any challenge impacts on site".

One of the biggest problems they came across, he points out, was that all too often developers required full cycle support and someone who understood all aspects of their project.

"What we’ve developed is a consultancy that partners our clients from design to post construction and we encourage developers to look to analyse what is required for a build, from day one. That way we could get involved in assessing the planning and environmental implications right from the outset, and support throughout" he says.

The immediate benefit that flows from involving the consultants early in the application process is that local authorities end up getting all the information they require – or at least what is known at that point – at the earliest possible stage in the planning application process. That puts the council planning office on a much better footing and of course, it gives the planners more confidence that they are dealing with a developer that has thought through the environmental and social impacts of the proposed scheme.

"Objectors will really scrutinise every application. So, developers need to prepare their case and must present coherent answers to public concerns," he says.

It has often been the practice with developers to outsource various parts of the planning preparation work to different consultants. By offering developers a full cycle solution, with all the necessary disciplines in-house, VG Consulting provides a much more structured and economical approach, Anderson argues.

"For example, we are able to look at a project with both planning and environmental and social impact issues in mind. That gives great value and cuts down on the number of points of contact that the developer must manage," he points out.

VG Consulting’s staff have also benefited from the consultancy’s approach. "One of the biggest internal benefits has been our ability to offer highly-skilled staff a much broader range of projects to work on. Specialists love a challenge and every project presents a new set," he notes.

Diversification across projects has also been very helpful in challenging economic circumstances, though Anderson points out that Brexit, so far, has not proved much of a stumbling block for the industry.

"A lot of the fog around Brexit was fear over whether investment and builds would continue. However, the demand for housing is quite clear and the industry is certainly benefiting from all the political initiatives around infrastructure spending," he comments.

One of the struggles developers face with the vast increase in transparency, is the perennial problem of how to keep things proportionate. In part this is not entirely in their hands and rests, to some extent, with planning departments themselves, and the guidance issued by Government. It’s also true to say that the local authorities are limited in resource, so working with them and ticking all the boxes required, provides a more seamless journey for all involved.

"A level playing field is required for all developers and scales of project. Every developer has challenges throughout a project and local authorities are not trying to add to them but have legislation and procedures that they must consider and meet.

"Understanding these processes, addressing them and delivering transparent information leads to successful outcomes. From an investment perspective through to delivery of projects on time, it’s all about minimising the risk.

Taking a smarter plan to developments will mean those hurdles won’t look quite as high." he concludes.