Land Solutions
At MKO, our Land Solutions team are focused on delivering development and access rights required by our clients for their projects while ensuring that landowners in facilitating access are appropriately compensated and make fully informed decisions along the way. We assist in negotiating legal contracts and notices from inception to completion and beyond into continued relationship management. We measure success by ensuring that clients and land owners are fully informed about decisions and ensure a layer of protection for all involved in more complex projects as required for successful outcomes.
Our team manage the acquisition of rights or agreements as required, identifying the key land owners for the project, conducting initial land owner engagement strategy and approaches, developing meaningful relationships, discussing development offerings and ensuring that land owners are comfortable through the process of securing agreements.
Site selection and identification
Using a rigorous and systematic process, we identify and select the optimum sites for projects. We use GIS mapping to identify key planning and environmental constraints, but all opportunity areas outside the constraints that can accommodate a development project. It can be difficult enough to secure project consent, without starting with the wrong site. We help select the optimum site for development, which gives the project the best possible chance of success. The consideration of alternatives (including alternative sites) is a key requirement for EIA projects. We help applicants demonstrate they have selected the site in an area, county or region, for their chosen project.
Negotiations, legal agreements, and notifications
We work with clients to deliver bespoke solutions for development projects. Including securing option and lease agreements for renewable energy developments, landowner approaches and negotiations for access and other accommodations works, planning agreements, and grid connection requirements both pre and post-planning. We can delicately approach land owners that may be suitable for development to present them with development concepts and establish their level of potential interest. Of course, no guarantees can be offered at such an early stage in development (pre-planning etc). Due to the level of capital investment involved, an option to lease or option to purchase land may be sought if certain project milestones were achieved. We also undertake negotiations of wayleave agreements and can facilitate the delivery of legal notices to land owners for compulsory purchase etc, as required.
MKO has over ten years of experience negotiating these agreements on behalf of developers. We consistently find that the presence of MKO can benefit both sides of the negotiation table, ensuring quality and effective communication, understanding and consistency at every step.
Community engagement
Our Land Solutions and dedicated Project Communications team can help devise and implement community engagement strategies. Often a requirement of the planning process, unveiling a project to the local community can carry some risks if effective engagement is not carefully approached. Our approach to community engagement is to initiate and manage effective communication that is inclusive and informative, creates an arena for meaningful feedback and lasts for project’s duration. Renewable Energy projects seeking support through the Renewable Energy Support Scheme (RESS) are obliged to undertake certain levels of community engagement that would satisfy the terms and conditions set out and adhere to the Code of Practice for Wind Energy Development in Ireland.
Our team can manage this entire process to ensure that RESS requirements are demonstrable but focus on meaningful engagement to the satisfaction of our clients and the community hosting the development project.