Concept plans, planning agreements and key site requirements for economic development

When developing land for economic purposes, there is a growing awareness of the need to ensure quality development, in order to achieve the required environmental quality and design standards expected of modern economic development. This can often be secured through planning conditions on approvals. On major development sites, however, a concept master plan can illustrate how comprehensive development can be achieved with quality design. Planning agreements can also be used in circumstances where there are a number of land owners involved, or where there are other obstacles to achieving a sustainable form of development. On larger sites, the use of key site requirements (KSRs) or development briefs in development plans can set out what is expected from developers in terms of design, layout and landscaping, and can also identify the main infrastructure requirements that developers will be expected to meet. However, the need for certain supplementary infrastructural works and/or mitigation measures necessary to facilitate the specific scale and form of development proposed may only be identified at planning application stage, for instance, as a result of an Environmental Impact Assessment or a Transport Assessment.