UNCOVERED: Always for, never against

02/07/25 • 27 min

It’s 2025 and the Dalcour Maclaren podcast is back. If you work in land consent, environment and planning, geomatics or land referencing (or if you want work in our industry), this should be your podcast of choice.

At the heart of DM is a saying that is part of our original story. We thought it is was time we explained exactly what it means and how our clients in the utilities and infrastructure sector benefit from it.

Always for, never against. It means that we only represent our clients in gaining land consent. Our competitors will field land agents to represent landowners but for James Neil CEO, he had one too many brushes on the doorstep of farms and rural businesses with his colleagues. And it didn’t feel right.

So, when he founded Dalcour Maclaren, he decided to promise his clients that his team would only ever act for and never against them. It’s part of what has helped us grow, gain the trust and respect of our clients and truly act as partners.

In this episode, James chats to Power Generation Director, Simon Hinchliffe (dubbed King of DCOs at DM), about his view of Always for, never against and how it has resulted in a new piece of research – Insights. Shared exclusively with our clients, it lists land agent fees, by geographic region, seniority, sector and more. It’s ideal for clients to ensure they know what reasonable (and unreasonable) fees look like. It also gives advice on how they should engage with landowners over payments of those fees.

Want access to insights like this? Sign up and one of our experts will be in touch. Register to be contacted about our DM Insights

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This is your go-to podcast for the utility and infrastructure sectors. Brought to you by Dalcour Maclaren, U&I is packed full of industry insight and expert perspectives. We discuss complex issues in an honest and practical way, from policy updates to planning and project delivery.

Join us as we explore the challenges and opportunities in:

land consent
environmental and planning
geomatics
land surveying
land referencing
power networks
power generation
digital infrastructure
water management
infrastructure
property management

At Dalcour Maclaren, we unlock consents for the utilities and infrastructure sector.

You can follow James Neil and Simon Hinchliffe on LinkedIn or email them directly:

James Neil, CEO

[email protected]

Simon Hinchliffe, Director, Power Generation

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Want access to insights like this? Sign up and one of our experts will be in touch. Register to be contacted about our DM Insights

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Join us as we explore the challenges and opportunities in:

land consent
environmental and planning
geomatics
land surveying
land referencing
power networks
power generation
digital infrastructure
water management
infrastructure
property management

At Dalcour Maclaren, we unlock consents for the utilities and infrastructure sector.

You can follow James Neil and Simon Hinchliffe on LinkedIn or email them directly:

James Neil, CEO

[email protected]

Simon Hinchliffe, Director, Power Generation

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

Biodiversity Net Gain: it’s here and it’s achievable with the right planning and expertise.

The legislation that came into force in earlier this year for certain projects, where developers need to ensure that the land is left in a measurably better state (minimum 10%), is known as BNG (Biodiversity Net Gain). And this improved biodiversity must be guaranteed for 30 years. Potentially a headache for developers, but according to our experts – it’s not insurmountable. In February 2025, similar legislation will be coming in for NSIPs.

So how is biodiversity measured – and how is that gain achieved? It’s going to be an ongoing challenge for the utility and infrastructure sectors, but one that can absolutely be achieved.

In this episode, our Environmental & Planning experts talk to James about the options we make available to our clients, the easy wins and how to take on the more challenging situations. Hear James throwing a wealth of those challenges at the team and they provide solutions to each one (and no, they weren’t primed beforehand!).

Caroline Morris, Director, and James Bird, Technical Director explain the different options available including exceptions such as Permitted Development rights, effects of moving red line boundaries and the importance of bringing in the whole project team at the very beginning of planning - even at site selection stage.

Of course, for many of our clients, they don’t own the land, so we have developed bespoke advice on how to support landowners and their responsibilities.

This podcast is packed full of the sort of specialist knowledge, insights and pragmatic recommendations that Dalcour Maclaren is known for.

At Dalcour Maclaren, we unlock consents for the utilities and infrastructure sector.

U&I is your go-to podcast for the utility and infrastructure sectors. Brought to you by Dalcour Maclaren, it is packed full of industry insight and expert perspectives. The U&I podcast. Join us as we explore the challenges and opportunities in: - land and property development - environment and planning - geomatics - land surveying - land referencing - power networks - power generation - telecoms - water management - transport and infrastructure. We discuss complex issues in an honest and practical way, from policy updates to planning and project delivery.

You can follow James Neil, Caroline Morris and James Bird on LinkedIn or email us directly.

James Neil, CEO:

[email protected]

Caroline Morris, Director:

[email protected]

James Bird, Technical Director:

[email protected]

Instagram

Facebook

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

Net Zero = renewables, nuclear and energy hubs

What is the energy mix that will get the UK to Net Zero?

In this episode, James Neil, CEO of Dalcour Maclaren, is joined by Hugh Gilmour from Telis Energy (a Europe-wide green energy development platform) to discuss the potential of small energy hubs, SMRs and solar. Hugh, Land Consent Manager and former DM employee, shares his extensive experience in the industry, including his work on major infrastructure projects and his current focus on large-scale solar developments.

Energy hubs are a critical concept for the UK's energy future, aiming to bring multiple technologies together through a single grid connection. Hugh explains how this approach can improve efficiency and grid balancing, integrating technologies such as battery storage, solar, onshore wind, hydrogen, and potentially small modular reactors.

The conversation also covers the challenges of land use, consenting regimes, and the complexities of grid connections. Hugh provides insights into the current state of the grid queue and the reforms needed to streamline the process, ensuring that real projects can move forward.

Additionally, the episode delves into the future of nuclear power, discussing the potential of small modular reactors and the importance of maintaining a skilled workforce to build and operate these technologies.

At Dalcour Maclaren, we unlock consents for the utilities and infrastructure sector.

U&I is your go-to podcast for the utility and infrastructure sectors, and is packed full of industry insight and expert perspectives.

Join us as we explore the challenges and opportunities in: land and property development, environment and planning, geomatics, land surveying, land referencing - power networks - power generation - telecoms - water management - transport and infrastructure.

We discuss complex issues in an honest and practical way, from policy updates to planning and project delivery.

Join us as we explore the challenges and opportunities in:

· land consent

· environmental and planning

· geomatics

· land surveying

· land referencing

· power networks

· power generation

· digital infrastructure

· water management

· infrastructure