About the Guide

Considerable focus is being placed upon the delivery of housing and economic growth in accordance with the sustainable communities agenda. At the same time there are concerns that the planning system does not always effectively deal with large development proposals, and that the time taken to evolve, appraise and determine applications can be too long. This can lead to uncertainty for applicants, delayed implementation and increased costs to all those involved in the process. Ensuring that the planning system performs in an effective and efficient manner is crucial to achieve growth through a managed process.

Bringing forward large development projects can be highly complex, involve a wide range of stakeholders and have significant impacts on time and resources. The UK Planning system is at a key transitional stage, moving towards a new system of spatial planning to secure the delivery of sustainable development in a timely manner. There is a key focus upon addressing unnecessary delay and uncertainty in the process. At the same time, the current economic climate is having a major impact on planning and development, introducing new issues and challenges that need to be addressed.

The rationale behind the development of this Guide is clear – to provide advice and guidance to all stakeholders involved in taking forward large development projects. It presents a logical process through the planning system from project inception through to the delivery of built development. It helps to identify what (based on ATLAS experience) should be done, when and by whom. It recognises the wide range of tasks that need to be undertaken, identifies the diversity of issues that need to be considered, and presents a range of tools, methodologies and sources of further information to enable them to be appropriately addressed.

The objectives are to build understanding, establish good practice and ensure that a full and robust process is undertaken, thus minimising potential delay in the delivery of built development.