Getting any building project off the ground can be a mammoth task, but you can be supported along the way if you start speaking to a town planning consultant.
Ensuring you begin with taking them on board from the very beginning means a smoother and relatively stress-free project.
1. Cutting Through the Red Tape
Local and experienced town planning consultants understand the zoning laws of the area you are aiming to build or renovate.
Before you get to the planning stage sharing your initial design with them will ensure you are not going to submit a plan that will fall at the first hurdle.
Your town planning consultant will advise on what the council will accept saving you time and money.
2. Checking You Have the Right Documentation
Planning laws can be a bit of a minefield and having a consultant who knows what documentation you need is going to make life a lot easier.
They will check to see that you have the relevant paperwork and can support you to work with architects or landscapers to ensure you have a plan that will meet with success.
3. Preparation of the Right Documentation
It may be that you need an environmental impact statement that has to be prepared and submitted with your planning documents.
If you are rezoning land or developing it, there are other formal documents that, unless you are an expert, need to be completed accurately.
This is where a professional town planner can support you freeing up your time to focus on other areas of the project.
4. Estimation of Costs
While you have a budget in mind, there will be other “hidden extra” costs that you may not have factored in around planning application costs for example.
Town planning consultants do have a very good idea of cost estimates when it comes to building projects.
Sharing your financial plans and budgets with them is a really good way of tapping into their expertise and ensuring you then set the correct budget for your project.
5. Presentation at Council Meetings
These can be quite daunting events if it is not something that you are used to doing.
Councilors may have specific questions along with their planning officers but to a town planner, this is all part and parcel of their daily work.
Having them with you to go through what to expect at these meetings as well as pick up on any areas they feel the council members may wish you to address, is a big value-added bonus.
If you need them to represent you then they can also do this as they will have an in-depth knowledge of your project by then as well.
6. Efficiency Measures
One of the most challenging aspects of managing a building project is that you have to be the person who is the single point of contact for a range of professions and trades.
This can be very tiring and stressful unless you have a town planning consultant to pick up the reins for you.
Keeping on top of deadlines or any changes to the plans along with ensuring the right people and businesses are kept up to speed is something that your planner can take onboard by being the main point of contact.
Not only does this free you up to focus on other things, but the risk of any mistakes through miscommunication is reduced if everything goes through one person.
7. Appeals Process Support
Most of the time, a planning application goes through relatively smoothly but if you find yourself at the end of an appeals process, you will be glad for the support of your planning consultant.
If your application is turned down and you must go through the appeals process, you want to ensure that you have the maximum opportunity for success.
Pulling together all the relevant and updated paperwork to meet the planning appeals criteria or if you need VCAT representation because you are faced with a dispute, then a town planner is the person you need by your side.
When considering your next project, call in the professionals to add value to any building work you are planning.
