Specialist planners in development: vUrbs Planning Services
Development has always been a risky business, and the risks have only increased with climate change now sitting front and centre, and our increasing awareness of the havoc natural hazards can create.
With the Alpine Fault set to rumble within our lifetimes, you want the best possible planning advice long before you roll in the heavy machinery.
Vishal Chandra, Director of vUrbs Planning Services is clear about the approach anyone contemplating a development or an investment should be taking, “the best idea is to manage risk at the forefront and get planning advice early.”
Vishal has worked in the Pacific Islands, where natural hazards form the context of planning, and affect most developments. New Zealand seemed a little different, until the recent impact of natural hazards.
How people are to live, work, and play in this setting changes the planning framework, and requires a responsive approach. Although in principle this is positive, it does present challenges to development.
His team are specialists in planning at both the strategic and development stages. Vishal says, “population growth is keeping the pressure to develop high, but we need to be smart about where we put people and infrastructure.
“Planners are often the last to be engaged, but we must flip that and have the planner in at the beginning of the process. Have the planner do due diligence on your area or plot. Further, early engagement of planners, ahead of committing to engineers and architects, will mean you get options you might not have thought of.”
The team work all over New Zealand with three offices in the South Island and two in the North. Vishal says the best part of his job is working with people to deliver their aspirations on the ground.
“We create places that are usable and appreciated. We put ourselves into the end result, asking ourselves would I be happy here?”
Planning services are driven by end results. “We focus on the people whose home or workplace this could be, not simply the developers we represent. We find our viewpoint doesn’t put successful developers off, because successful developers know our approach carries value for them when they go to market,” adds Vishal.
