Our Planning team at Avalon provides clear, concise and honest advice to an array of clients ranging from domestic householders to farm estates, private developers, institutions and local government organisations. The experience in our team is well placed to deliver successful results on every planning challenge and through an encouragement in continuous professional development, we pride ourselves on being a recognised and go-to consultancy in the Southwest for planning advice.

As the largest independent planning, heritage and archaeology consultancy in the Southwest, we are uniquely positioned to handle even the most complex and sensitive of developments.

We can manage your project from inception through to the delivery on site. Working in partnership, we guide our clients through planning permission or listed building consent, finding creative solutions to any challenges. Thanks to our excellent working relationships with planning officers and statutory consultees, we are perfectly placed to present your scheme as favourably as possible to key stakeholders.

  • Project Management of your Planning Application
  • Design Development
  • Pre Purchase Planning Appraisals
  • Pre-Application Engagement
  • Planning Statements and Expert Reports
  • Prior Approval Applications / Permitted Development advice
  • Planning Permission in Principle (PPiP)
  • Public and Stakeholder Consultation
  • Negotiation with Stakeholders
  • Portfolio Strategic Planning Advice
  • Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA)
  • Discharge of Conditions
  • Representations on emerging policy documents
  • Appeals and Expert Witness
  • Section 106 Agreements
  • CIL Advice
  • Advice to Landed Estates

Recent Projects

Burgh Island Hotel
South Devon Burgh Island Hotel
Winslade Park
Exeter Winslade Park
Alfoxton Park
Kilve North Somerset Alfoxton Park

Why work with Avalon?

  1. Effective partnerships - we work collaboratively and openly with you, and the entire consultant team, ensuring all policy risks are understood from the outset, and hurdles are anticipated.
  2. Greatest breadth of planning expertise in the Southwest, with valuable local knowledge and contacts.
  3. Excellent professional relationships - we have strong relationships with Southwest planning officers as well as national stakeholders, so you can rest assured that most policy issues will have been successfully negotiated away, often in advance of formal application submission.
  4. We are commercial - like you, we understand the importance of securing planning certainty, quickly and within budget. We work hard to anticipate problems, ensuring we’re ready with robust rebuttals ahead of time, and any roadblocks to the planning process are removed.
  5. We are committed to behaving ethically and sustainably in how we run our business. Whether travelling to site using co-share vehicles, being ethically selective with our suppliers, or prioritising supporting local companies over multinationals, we’re always keen to work with people and companies who also care about our environment and making positive choices.

Key Services

Planning Applications

There’s more behind a successful planning application than just filling in the forms. Avalon communicates closely with the entire consultant team from start to finish, ensuring every report submitted not only meets validation expectations, but addresses any critical planning issues in detail.

Our own Planning Statements are key advocacy documents, responding directly to stakeholder concerns and robustly advocating design proposals.

And our work doesn’t end once the application is submitted. Our Planning Team will continue to negotiate proposals and minimise any restrictive Conditions until your permission is granted, allowing you to plan your construction start date with greater assurity.

Planning Statements and Expert Reports

Planning Statements are one of the most important documents supporting your planning application.

Avalon’s expert reports stand out because we don’t waste time and budgets writing unnecessarily. We target our planning case towards the key policy issues that are a priority for your stakeholders, helping give your scheme the very highest chance of success.

Consultation

Meaningful consultation is now central to securing planning permission, whether that means engaging with Council Officers, statutory consultees or the local community.

We have seen many permissions smoothed through by taking a proactive approach to consultation and we have excellent professional relationships with Southwest local authorities, Historic England, Natural England and others to offer in support of your scheme.

Here to help

If you have a project that would benefit from expert advice, we’d love to hear from you.

Murray Ross
Planning Director

Murray Ross

We've been so impressed with the professionalism, diligence and breadth of knowledge from the team at Avalon Planning & Heritage.

Private Client, Devon

[Avalon are] planning experts who guided us through a stressful and complex process with confidence, calmness and professionalism.

Private Client, Devon

This is fantastic news, especially given the recent results in that area - the client will be happy. Thanks again for all your efforts on this one and keeping us up to date, a brilliant outcome!

PMR Architecture, Devon

For our small-scale development of just three new dwellings, Avalon provided appropriate and competitively-priced advice. Thanks to Jonathan, the planners’ concerns were calmly managed and permission was obtained.

Private Client, Devon