Need a planning consultant in Gloucestershire?

Planning Consultancy Gloucestershire

With its rolling green countryside and beautiful Cotswold villages to protect, you might expect Gloucestershire County Council to scrutinise planning applications closely. This south west county includes two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty – the Wye Valley and the Cotswolds – along with the Forest of Dean, the historic market towns of Cirencester and Tewkesbury, and the elegant Regency spa town of Cheltenham.

Despite this background, the County Council has plans for major housing and business development; however, any project that faces challenges in obtaining planning permission may well benefit from the strategic advice of planning consultants.

This article explains why a planning consultant may be required, before looking at where development is being planned in the county and goes on to show a selection of schemes successfully taken through the planning process by planning consultants in Gloucestershire.

Do I Need a Planning Consultant?

While a straightforward development project may simply require the services of an architect to create drawings, advice from a planning consultant could help a scheme face a complicated journey through the planning system. Planning consultants have in-depth knowledge of local and national planning policies; they will be experienced in working with the relevant local authority and negotiating with its officers. Planning consultants can provide feasibility studies, submit planning applications, ensure planning and building regulations requirements are fulfilled and if an application is refused, they can handle planning appeals. Depending on your scheme, they can offer professional planning advice and a personal service tailored to help you obtain planning consent.

Gloucestershire’s Development Outlook

Gloucestershire County Council plans to build around 35,000 new homes between 2024 and 2035, an ambitious target reflecting the council’s commitment to meeting housing demand while ensuring that Gloucestershire remains a beautiful and vibrant place to live and work.

The key aims of Gloucestershire County Council’s 2024 development plan are encouraging sustainable growth, protecting the county’s unique assets, providing more affordable housing, and supporting local businesses. There is a focus on green energy and reduced carbon emissions to ensure that new developments are environmentally friendly, alongside improved infrastructure to better connect communities.

New housing, mixed-use development, and leisure space are planned for Cheltenham and Gloucester to meet the growing population’s needs and boost the local economy. The Cyber Central project in Cheltenham aims to create a world-class hub for cyber technology with new homes, offices, and community spaces, while the Gloucester South expansion will deliver thousands of new homes, along with schools, parks, and retail facilities.

Five Beautiful Schemes Guided by Planning Consultants in Gloucestershire

SF Planning Ltd

This planning consultancy has offices in Cheltenham, Gloucester and London and offers town planning advice and strategic planning services. SF Planning handles a range of planning application types including new dwellings, self-builds, listed buildings and large-scale development projects. It can also carry out site appraisals, community consultation, planning applications, project management, planning appeals and guides clients on all planning related matters.

SF Planning achieved planning consent for this replacement dwelling in a designated landscape area of the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding National Beauty. Planning consultants demonstrated a permitted development position to maximise the size of the house and engaged local residents to achieve an acceptable design. The design team created subterranean areas to achieve the space required, and the house was clad in Cotswold drystone wall material. The scheme won the 2013 Civic Award for New Building organised by the Cheltenham Civic Society.

McLoughlin Planning

A full range of professional planning advice is offered by this Cheltenham-based chartered town planning and development consultancy. McLoughlin Planning provides advice on strategic site promotions, private developments, agricultural buildings, and rural projects with private individuals and the public sector, including local government, town, parish and county councils.

The challenge here was to obtain planning permission for a contemporary garden office at a period home in a Cotswold village conservation area, next to a Grade II* listed building: this meant that the new structure could not harm the setting of the heritage asset. Planning consent was achieved for a scheme constructed with timber cladding, aluminium windows and doors, and an asymmetric sloping roof. The local planning authority decided that the design blended with its surroundings.

DK Planning & Development

Working with private individuals, landowners, and rural estates on all planning related matters, DK Planning & Development is based in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, and is experienced in large-scale residential developments, infills, agricultural buildings and edge-of-settlement proposals. They are specialists in securing planning permission for developments of exceptional quality in protected areas, and for altering and extending listed buildings.

After several unsuccessful attempts at achieving planning permission, DK Planning & Development was engaged to create a strategy for delivering a new house through the permitted change of use of a modern agricultural building to a single dwelling, via Class Q of the Town & Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015. A prior notification application was rejected by Cotswold District Council but was allowed at appeal. Following the firm’s planning advice, the owners then decided to pursue a planning application for a new farmhouse instead of the Class Q prior approval. A planning justification and design by Yiangou Architects enabled the scheme to obtain permission.

Mohsin Cooper

This Royal Institute of British Architects and Royal Town Planning Institute chartered architecture and planning practice has offices in Cheltenham, Brighton and London. The planning team works on major applications and smaller schemes, from retail and commercial to leisure and residential new dwellings, along with option agreements, land acquisitions, site promotion and planning appeals. This planning consultancy works closely with its architectural design team to ensure schemes are workable at the technical design stage.  

Mohsin Cooper secured planning permission for this new build replacement dwelling in the South Downs National Park. The design adopts the Sussex style of brick and hung tile, and individual features include an asymmetrical roof, vertical timbers and deep brick reveals.

Howard Architectural Planning Consultancy

Having over 30 years of experience in planning consultancy, this firm is practiced at securing listed building consent and dealing with bodies such as English Heritage. Typical projects include new dwellings, extensions, refurbishments and enhancements to historic buildings. As well as submitting planning applications for complex schemes, Howard Architectural Planning Consultancy can ensure projects comply with building regulations and offer complete project management.

This bungalow makeover and extension near Cheltenham transformed the existing space into a contemporary, open-plan home. Planning consultants devised a scheme that connected the indoors and outdoors by use of folding doors and corner-to-corner windows, and a flat roof light that filled the room with natural light.

Find the Right Planning Consultancy

Hiring a planning consultant brings numerous advantages: they can streamline a project, provide a single point of contact, and save time and costs. If you are seeking professional planning advice, it’s important to identify a planning consultancy that works on projects like yours, enabling you to see a finished scheme. Personal service and bespoke planning advice from the right planning consultant could lead to innovative solutions, allowing you to obtain permission for your scheme.