Property Consultancy Vail Williams has bolstered its Gatwick region planning department with the appointment of an experienced senior planner.
Iain Williams joins the expanding firm’s property planning consultancy team from the London Borough of Sutton, where he worked for more than seven years in local authority development management.
Based at the Crawley office and strengthening the firm’s strategic continued growth in Sussex, Iain will be working across a wide range of planning and development disciplines.
These include mixed use development advice, commercial development advice, negotiation of Section 106 Agreements and permitted development and prior notification applications.
Danny George, Vail Williams’ Gatwick Regional Managing Partner, said: “We are pleased to welcome Iain to our team. He is a great planning and development all-rounder whose knowledge and experience will be invaluable as we look to offer valued clients an even better service
“Throughout this career, he has developed in-depth experience of major strategic planning applications, including for mixed use development and commercial development.
“He is also hugely adept at handling waste management and green belt sites – taking applications through from the pre-application stage to determination and discharge of conditions and obligations.”
Well respected in his field, Iain has managed a number of sensitive projects and, as a result, is experienced in dealing with Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) development and developments referable to the Greater London Authority (GLA).
He is also able to liaise with various types of stakeholders and is an expert negotiator of Section 106 Agreements.
Iain said: “I have always been impressed by the way Vail Williams carries out business, by the firm’s values, continued growth, ongoing staff development and the fact that everyone is obviously part of a great team.
“I hope to use the skills I have gained in my previous roles to continue to provide clients with the exemplary service they have come to expect. I wanted to explore the wider world of planning in the private sector in a new challenge.
“I have represented local authorities at appeal through written representation or informal hearings and I am experienced in the drafting of appeal statements, being the principal officer at appeal hearings and co-ordinating expert witnesses for local authorities.
“I like to think I have a good level of knowledge about permitted development and prior notification applications, as well as the wider development management process, and look forward to using this to good effect.
“In my role as a senior planning officer I covered a wide range of development issues and I am now looking to utilise those skills to provide realistic planning guidance.”
Iain’s work for Vail Williams so far has included providing advice to a social media company searching for a new headquarters in Reigate, a residential scheme in Croydon and a convenience store in Reigate & Banstead.
