AN aviation specialist has set up Scotland’s first planning consultancy for airport safety zones.
Nyree Millar-Bell spent years working as a senior manager with Edinburgh Airport and now works with property, renewables and construction companies wishing to develop land within airport safety zones.
She said, “I’m really excited to be working on the other side of the runway helping developers get the planning consent they need from an airport. What I do is provide the developer with the evidence they need to gain planning consent from an airport so there are no nasty surprises of airports slapping an objection on a project that falls within the 15km safeguarding zone.
“This can help save thousands of pounds on redesigns, appeals and resubmissions as well as costly planning delays.”
Planning applications around airports can raise objections due to a number of factors including features which could cause glare or contravene height restrictions.
Nyree added, “This is a very particular niche in the planning world with many restrictions and rules that developers may not always consider and this is why I use my specialist knowledge and experience to ensure projects within the zone can be completed without additional delays and costs.”
Alun Williams, MD of specialist procurement advisers Arfon Consulting Ltd, said, “As advisers on major infrastructure projects we have first-hand experience of supporting clients working within an airport’s safeguarding zone navigate holding objections from the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) during a scheme’s development stages.
“In one case, even high-sided vehicles travelling on a trunk road had the capacity to generate air traffic control radar ‘clutter’ and a financial settlement reached to upgrade the radar’s software capabilities. Nyree’s specialist knowledge and skills will, doubtless, be an invaluable addition to any developer’s advisory team when bringing forward projects within airport safety zones.”
