Colin Turnbull

Colin provides commercial planning and delivery advice to infrastructure operators and developers, bringing20 years’ experience in the private sector. He leads multidisciplinary teams on complex projects typically some years in duration. He provides clear and practical guidance, challenge, and advice founded on an expert understanding of planning procedural requirements and decision maker expectations and a background in environmental impact assessment and regeneration. He works directly with engineering, finance and legal professionals to understand and exceed project requirements and timescales, and obtain robust consents that support investment decisions.

Colin has worked on Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs), which require a DCO under the Planning Act 2008, continuously since 2010. Having direct experience compiling all elements of DCO applications he now supports team assembly,  options appraisal, application preparation, peer review, examination management and representation in hearings. He has led the consenting of three DCO projects end to end, including for SSE Thermal (Keadby 3 – the first carbon capture power station DCO). He is currently leading two solar DCO applications and one solar DCO examination, along with a hydrogen and gas power station and a pioneering sustainable aviation fuel manufacturing plant DCO application.

Colin is particularly experienced in obtaining planning permissions for Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) projects, with over 3GW consented to date. He is currently directly supporting the construction stage of over 2GW of BESS around England..

He has recent experience obtaining planning permissions for synchronous compensators, industrial and power carbon capture, energy from waste plants, reserve power plants and CHP, pipeline and cable development, and minerals and waste projects. He regularly leads section 36 variation applications relating to new grid connected flexible thermal generating plant. He also supports planning due diligence of renewable and thermal energy projects and portfolios for acquisition and lender purposes.

In the transport sector, he advises an owner of airport logistics facilities and has advised strategic highways authorities on preparing DCO applications. He acted as consents advisor to Crossrail 2 establishing the hybrid bill consent strategy and worked on the Airports National Policy Statement.

Colin has been a chartered member of the RTPI since 2009 and is a member of the National Infrastructure Planning Association since 2012.