Mike has over 35 years’ experience in town planning and until recently was the Head of the Development Management Service at East Dorset District Council. Mike started his career with Knight Frank before moving to the London Borough of Hammersmith and then to Poole Borough Council, initially as a development control team leader before moving into the local plans team. In 1987, he moved to East Dorset where much of his time was involved in providing management support for the development management and building control functions.
During his career, Mike has been involved in major housing developments and commercial redevelopment projects, some of which have been highly controversial. He was also involved in diffusing the residential development embargo in South East Dorset in 2005 which arose as a result of a European Court judgement on Habitats Regulations.
“I’m absolutely delighted to be working with Intelligent Land – I can see the clear synergy between my skills and the rest of the Intelligent Land team to offer real value to our clients,” Mike said.
Intelligent Land is a Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) accredited property consultancy. The firm works with property owners and occupiers to maximise financial returns as well as limit liability across residential and commercial property projects. Intelligent Land also offers a range of professional services, and advice on value-adding through sustainable development strategies.
Mark Hewett, Managing Director of Intelligent Land, said: “Mike Hirsh is a planner with a strong track record, having headed development control at one of the most positive local authorities for over 20 years. We now have an expert planner working with a team who are focused on profit enhancement. It’s our unique selling point and no other practice is offering this service.”
With such an extensive background in town planning, Mike is able to provide assistance along the entire development application process. This includes providing advice and positive criticisms of schemes at the pre-application stage, preparing design and access statements, through to negotiating over betterment packages and assisting with formal submissions.
He has particular expertise in the decision making process of Local Planning Authorities as well as Green Belt policy and can also provide assistance in drafting appeals statements and act as an expert witness.
According to Mike, the planning sector is facing a number of challenges at present.
“In particular, the Government’s initiatives in relation to localism need to be set in the context of a development industry coming out of recession,” he said.
Mike also believes numerous confrontations regarding developments are automatically taken through the appeals process, but many need not do so.
“There is no point dashing off to appeal if there is an opportunity for a positive way forward. If it is possible to negotiate a positive solution, then that is where I can help,” he said.
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