Atkins has the capability and experience of working with government to advise on and review policies and to develop strategic plans.
We have taken a lead in working to the planning system introduced by the Planning Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and have wide ranging expertise in helping local planning authorities to deliver their local development frameworks (LDF). We have significant experience in making representations on emerging local planning documents and influencing those documents to include site specific allocations or specific policy.
We have a clear understanding of strategic planning and policy frameworks, enabling us to respond to:
- Clients’ increasingly complex agendas in areas such as regeneration, sustainability, climate change, urbanisation and economic development
- Clients’ need for advice and supporting, preparing and interpreting strategic plans, policy frameworks and integrated, national, regional and local strategies
- Demands for a complex mix of services and disciplines that are drawn from a number of our businesses
Our involvement in the preparation of development plan documents ranges from the specialist assessments essential to a robust evidence base, such as open space studies and employment land assessments, through community consultation, sustainability appraisals and GIS, to the LDF documents themselves including statements of community involvement, site specific allocations, proposals maps, area action plans (AAP), sustainability appraisals, supplementary planning documents (SPD), minerals and waste development frameworks.
Notable commissions include:
- Growth options studies for Hertfordshire, Harlow, South Essex and Gillingham (Dorset)
- National spatial strategy for the Republic of Ireland
- Long-term transport strategies for cities in China
- Bahrain National Planning and Development Strategy