All businesses at least give lip service to the idea that they are different, better value, more creative than their competitors. It can be challenging to actually prove this difference, the “USP – unique selling proposition.”
In 2014 we began to really focus on what made JFA Environmental Planning unique, and that is when we came up with our motto – “Bringing Nature to the Heart of Design.” We then became proselytisers for that approach with our clients, most of whom were happy to see that what was their own aspiration – and it is a policy that is at the heart of the National Planning Policy Framework- realised on their developments. While we have always been focused on getting our clients through the thicket of environmental legislation, so that they receive planning permission and can get on site quickly. We have always taken the time to understand what our clients aspire to, not imposing our own view, and working harmoniously with other consultants. Now we work, particularly with the architects and master planners to see where biodiversity can be introduced in a design-led and aesthetic way. We have a number of projects where nature is indeed at the heart of the design, without losing the important urban design considerations of any modern development. We were pleased therefore when in the last month, we have had two major projects – mixed developments in excess of 350 homes – lauded for the integration of biodiversity and landscape in the design of these schemes. One site was lauded and put forward as a preferred housing site for Cheshunt District and the second found favour from the Rother District design panel, prior to submission of reserved matters later in the year. While we often get quiet satisfaction from coming up with our own solutions for marrying urban design, landscape and ecology, it is indeed gratifying to find that our efforts do not go unnoticed.
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