The SCOPE: Why flexible planning consents are essential for development at scale
May 18, 2026
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How can the planning system support the delivery of large?scale new communities over decades of change without undermining trust and certainty?
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"text": "
In this episode of The SCOPE, we explore why flexibility is essential to deliver major residential-led developments of 10,000 homes and more.
Communities evolve over 20 to 30 years. Yet, planning consents are still too often designed around fixed assumptions made at a single point in time. They don¡¯t include factors for changing behaviours and energy demands, economic cycles, policy reform, and climate pressure.
James Scott, group director of Strategy and Planning at Urban & Civic, as well as Michael Parkinson and Alex Jones from ²ÝÝ®´«Ã½ discuss these issues. They examine how flexibility can be designed into planning consents in ways that protect confidence, build trust with local authorities and communities, and enable adaptation as circumstances change.
Listen to the episode to hear practical insights for local authorities, developers, and stakeholders working to deliver new communities at scale.
Listen to the podcast
Watch the podcast
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-
As a planning director, Alex draws upon her working knowledge of local authority processes and procedures to provide technical knowledge and insight into projects across London and the South of England.
Contact Alex -
As a director, Michael plays an active role in technical development. He specialises in the planning and delivery of land development projects and has extensive experience in the project management and design of multidisciplinary projects.
Contact Michael
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