Planning for the Future – Appointment of Claire Walters
HPA Chartered Architects are delighted to announce a new appointment to strengthen our expert planning team. Claire Walters has joined HPA as a Planning Consultant, bringing with her experience working both in the private and public sector and having worked at Royal Town Planning Institute North West (RTPI NW).
Claire will work alongside our team of Chartered Architects and Technologists to enhance HPA’s ability to deliver full planning support to all clients including commercial clients, homebuilders and individuals working on their own personal projects such as self-build homes and property conversions.
Planning Expertise
Our planning experts have many years’ experience of negotiating complex planning laws, both on a national level and in their local interpretation. This experience gives us a valuable insight into how local authorities operate, including an in-depth knowledge of their individual planning and development policies. By understanding both the detail of these policies, and the overall driving principles behind them, we can help you to both anticipate and avoid potential areas of concerns and ensure that your proposal is in tune with the local vision wherever the site may be.
Established relationships
As one of the largest and most respected Architect practices in the area, with a proud history stretching back over 40 years, HPA have built a reputation for professionalism across the industry. Our good working relationships with local authorities, and our track record of creating schemes that work for all stakeholders, puts us in a strong position when it comes to negotiating on your behalf.
By having an in-house team of Architects and Planning Consultants working together on all our projects, we can deliver a more complete and seamless service to our clients; reducing the risk of potential costly changes and delays when designs get sent for planning permission.
A changing landscape
While many of England’s planning regulations have been in place for as long as 70 years, others are changing all the time in response to local needs and a nationwide shortage of housing. Only recently, the Government announced a major overhaul of planning laws covering unused buildings in urban settings, with Housing Secretary, Robert Jenrick, saying that they were “reforming the planning system and cutting out unnecessary bureaucracy to give small business owners the freedom they need to adapt and evolve, and to renew our town centres with new enterprises and more housing”.
Stay right up to date
Staying abreast of all these changes takes a great deal of time and effort, which is why you need an expert Planning Consultant on your team. HPA keep up to date with Planning developments as we sit on an Industry Advisory Planning Panel, allowing the HPA Planning team to monitor all changes to planning laws, ensuring we can give you accurate, up to the minute advice. We will advise you on how any changes impact your project and how you can use these changes to your advantage, whether that’s an inner-city redevelopment or a greenbelt project.
We’re very excited to be extending our industry leading planning team and Claire joining our team will further strengthen that position adding experience and expertise to deliver the best results for our clients.
