Leading Gloucestershire commercial property specialist Bruton Knowles has strengthened its planning team with the appointment of qualified town planner Paul Barton.
Paul, from West Malvern, joined the firm at the beginning of 2015 and will be working closely with Richard Brogden and Scott Winnard in the Land Development team.
With nearly 20 years’ experience in handling both urban and rural planning issues across the Midlands and further afield, Paul is looking forward to helping landowners and businesses move projects forward.
He said: “The Government’s decision to overhaul the planning system in a bid to kickstart the construction sector has made life interesting and there remain good opportunities -especially in the residential sector given the historical undersupply of housing.
“As we head in to 2015 I believe there is an element of uncertainty as to which schemes will and which will not be looked on favourably – as always local, expert advice is essential in evaluating and adding value to development projects.
“There are opportunities out there for those who can bring forward convincing, sustainable development, especially as so many local authorities have been unable to identify adequate provision for new homes.”
Team Manager Angus Taylor said: “Paul is an experienced Planning Consultant with whom our land development team have worked in the past, providing us with a really good opportunity to grow this area of work both as an expansion of our development capacity but also as a separate specialist skill.
“The rate at which the economy has recovered – even out here in the regions – has taken many commentators by surprise and it is vital we have a suitably experienced and qualified planning team within the Gloucester office.”
Qualified since 1998, Paul has worked with private landowners and house-builders to promote single units schemes up to 200+ units and is also experienced dealing with housing associations, local authorities and a range of important clients.
Scott Winnard said: “Paul comes to us with a wealth of experience in all aspects of planning including submitting and negotiating planning permissions, listed building consent and appeals.
“His skill set means we are even better equipped to tackle Section 106 agreements as well as negotiating around restrictive conditions – he can also handle representations for or against developments.
“This will enable Bruton Knowles to offer additional planning related services to our clients.”
