Ardent, a leading land, consent management and stakeholder engagement practice, has reached a major milestone in helping to deliver the biggest development projects in the UK.
The company, which has offices across the country, has just been instructed on its one-hundredth Development Consent Order (DCO), making it the first consultancy to reach the milestone and of the most experienced and trusted practices in the industry.
DCOs were introduced as part of the Planning Act 2008 as a way of helping to achieve timely consent for schemes such as major transport, utilities, renewables and other infrastructure projects. Ardent, which now employs almost 200 people in London, Birmingham, Leeds, Warrington, Glasgow and Dublin, worked on the first DCO to be instructed in the UK – a waste to energy facility known as Rookery South in Stewartby, Bedfordshire.
The company assisted in the production of application documents such as the book of reference and land plans, as well as supporting the project through the identification of land and property impacts, landowner engagement and consultation, and negotiations with landowners for the acquisition of land and rights necessary to implement the scheme.
The Infrastructure Planning Commission granted the DCO in 2011 to Covanta Energy and the facility now generates enough electricity to power 112,500 homes. Ardent has since supported a range of projects, including 25 solar energy developments and multiple off shore wind projects that, between them, will generate enough electricity to power over two million UK homes.
The company has also supported a range of rail and highway projects, strategic rail freight interchanges, overhead electricity lines and multiple energy-from-waste schemes. One of its most complex instructions is the crucial role it has played in Sizewell C Nuclear Power Station – one of the largest infrastructure projects in the UK – through its land referencing and its consents management teams.
The company supported the DCO application in 2018 through to submission in 2020 and has continued to provide consultancy on the project after the DCO was granted in 2022, to bridge the gap between the team that achieved consent and the contractors working to deliver it.
The milestone DCO instruction is another major solar project that will deliver over 500mw of electricity, and the company will support with land and community engagement services, once again utilising its Atlas digital applications for all engagement interactions. It means Ardent has acted on over 55% of all DCOs over the past 15 years, a feat recognised by Jonathan Stott, group managing director.
He said:
“It is an incredible achievement to hit this milestone.The team has supported well over half of the nationally significant infrastructure projects to come forward across the country over the past decade and a half.
“The social, environmental and economic benefits of that work is helping to deliver energy, transport and developments that are, by their very definition, nationally significant and fit in with our company purpose of delivering life-improving change.”
Richard Caten, chief executive, added:
“We are proud of our heritage in the infrastructure sector, where we were advising on major projects for 15 years prior to the DCO regime being established.
“To build on that experience and become the first consultancy to reach this milestone speaks volumes of our experience and expertise, and we’re grateful to the many clients who have trusted us to advise them through the process.”
Ardent expects more renewables projects to come forward for DCOs in the coming years, including battery storage and hydrogen as well as more solar and off-shore wind.
Jonathan added:
“Across our range of disciplines and our teams, we offer a truly unique range of services to support major infrastructure projects, and we’re looking forward to our 101st instruction in the next few weeks.”
Find out more about Ardent via their website.
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