What infrastructure planning covers
Infrastructure planning is the work that happens before any detailed design begins. It establishes what services a development will need, whether the surrounding bulk infrastructure can carry that demand, what it will cost, and in what order the work should be built. Getting this stage right is what keeps a project from stalling at the approval stage or running into unbudgeted bulk contributions later.
We look at water, sewer, storm water, roads and access together rather than in isolation, because on most developments the binding constraint sits in one of them and determines what is feasible across all of them.
Typical deliverables
- Master planning — layouts of bulk and internal services for the full development, phased to match the way the client intends to build it out.
- Feasibility studies — an assessment of whether a site can be serviced, what upgrades are needed to get there, and what that means for the project budget.
- Outline scheme reports — the engineering report that accompanies a development application and sets out the proposed services for the authority to review.
- Capacity assessments — checks of existing bulk capacity against the demand the new development will add.
- Phased cost estimates — service costs broken down by phase so the client can see the cash-flow implications of a build sequence.
When you need it
Most clients come to us at one of three points: before buying a site, when they want to know what servicing it will realistically cost; at the start of a township establishment or rezoning application, when the authority requires an engineering services report; or partway into a large development, when phasing needs to be reworked around funding or approval timelines.
Planning work carried out early is considerably cheaper than redesigning around a constraint discovered during construction. It is also the stage where the biggest cost savings on a project are available.
How we work
We start by establishing the development parameters with the client and confirming what the relevant authority will require. From there we gather the available information on existing services, identify the gaps, and set out the servicing options with their cost and programme implications, so the decision about which route to take is an informed one.
Where a project moves ahead, the planning work carries directly into detailed design and construction supervision, and usually runs alongside surveys and geotechnical investigation to confirm the assumptions the plan depends on.