ANDREW Lindsay, former partner of York law firm Denison Till, has said British planning officials could learn from their US counterparts after he returned from visiting American chambers of commerce.
Mr Lindsay, who has now joined Leeds law firm Lupton Fawcett, working in York and North Yorkshire, spent his three months gardening leave visiting chief executives of the San Francisco and Los Angeles chambers. The director of Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber asked them how the public and private sectors in the USA work together to deliver large scale development projects.
He said that planning officials and developers work out the phases of a development together, agreeing the parts as they go.
“The developer does not have to keep its fingers crossed that a planning committee might throw the whole application out at the 11th hour, causing huge financial write-offs.
“The issue about how much profit a developer is going to make isn’t important. What’s important is the delivery of houses, jobs and amenities. And, of course, the future revenues from property taxes, business taxes and income tax.
“I think we have something important to learn from the USA model, particularly at the moment, when developers can’t afford to risk substantial funds on the whim of a planning committee decision. And Chamber can play a useful role bringing both sides together,” he said.
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