Planning & Environmental

It touches us all. It's getting more complex

And it's becoming more open to dispute. We've been representing the interests of clients on a whole range of both contentious and non-contentious planning and environmental issues for many years. Since 2003 our comprehensive and growing service has been managed by this specialist Practice Group. It's an area that touches all our lives, as businesses, public agencies and as private individuals. And it's becoming legally more complex - and, frequently, more disputatious. So help with appeals and local planning inquiries is also vital.

Policy interpretation is the key skill. We advise on the drafting and submission of planning applications covering projects on all scales - new buildings, alterations, demolitions and changes of use. But the expertise that clients increasingly need, as well, is interpreting the implications of development plans and planning policy - and of permissions and their conditions.  Planning agreements often require developers to contribute towards community infrastructure, for example. And these "planning gains" are binding on developers, councils and owners, often in perpetuity.

We keep you abreast of all the changes. Planning and environmental regulations are changing all the time, driven by law-makers at Holyrood, Westminster and Brussels. We make sure you're kept up to date.  Whether you are buying, selling or leasing property you cannot afford to be wrong-footed on all relevant issues - anything from the rights of your neighbours to contaminated land.