Hello there!

While you are casually checking out this website, what questions are popping up for you?

There are plenty of town planners based in the Hunter Region. What sets Creedence Planning apart from the rest of the bunch?

Who is Creedence Planning?

What do we stand for? What are our values?

Why didn't we spell-check our business name?

Cool logo, but what does it mean?

All very good questions!

Hereunder lies a deeper dive into Creedence Planning.

Creedence Planning is a small, local Newcastle town planning consultancy, currently run by Gordon Edgar, a  very experienced urban planner who has recently worked for the City of Newcastle council but has experience in multiple local council areas in multiple roles on many and varied development projects throughout the Sydney metropolitan area, Central Coast and, more recently, in the Hunter Region. This is the second iteration of Creedence Planning, which formerly operated successfully for many years in Sydney.

Large, complex job, small backyard job, ‘we’ (yes, there is only one of ‘us’ currently - not intending to use the royal ‘we’ just intending to grow in population over time) have done it all over the course of the last 30 years. In spite of having worked all these years in the complex world that is the NSW planning system, we have never lost our passion for applying good design and planning direction to development projects.

One thing that really stands out after all these years is how truly complex and challenging the New South Wales planning system is, how overwhelming it can appear to those unfamiliar with it, how unnecessarily some people make it more complicated and confrontational than it needs to be and, what could be done to make it a more constructive and less toxic process for everybody.

There are some very good planning consultants out there who we have very high regard for. There are also some others who support projects they know are doomed not to be supported by the consent authority. They blame the council staff for rejecting the proposal and charge additional fees to the client for addressing council staff concerns, adding additional time and cost to the project. They resort to taking questionable/confrontational approaches to obtaining development consent for their clients and attempting to expedite that process. Bullying council staff, gaslighting, misrepresenting the facts, complaining when council staff are simply doing their job. Council planners know who these people are and treat them accordingly. At Creedence Planning, we understand the pressures faced by people on both sides of the service counter. We take a long-term view, building positive business relationships, not only with our clients but also with the people we deal with at the consent authority. We will always represent our clients’ interests robustly but, at the same time, treat consent authority staff respectfully and considerately. This is simply a matter of common courtesy and makes good business sense in the long term as maintaining positive working relationships with consent authority staff is a vital part of our business plan.

When it is necessary, as our client, you will get an honest, professional appraisal of how you may need to alter your proposal to improve the chances of gaining a time-efficient and cost-efficient approval. We will ‘tell it to you straight’ rather than making promises that we know won’t ultimately come to fruition, thus avoiding disappointment, frustration and wasting precious time for everyone concerned. We respect your vision and see it as our job to improve upon it and deliver its approval. All the while, taking you with us on that journey. Of course, as a client, you always have the option of listening to our advice and then deciding to maintain your original design outcome nonetheless and we will advocate respectfully and professionally for your proposal. In such circumstances, any potential re-design request from the consent authority would, at least, not come as an unexpected surprise.

It's true that the business name ‘Creedence Planning’ references the word ‘credence’, the dictionary definition of which is “credibility". We see it as our mission to establish the credibility or 'approvability' of your development. The business name also references the word “creed”, which is defined as “a system of belief.” It is our belief that we can spell a business name any way we like. On that note, the dictionary spelling of ‘credence’ never really made sense to us phonetically, and so we have chosen to add another “e” in there, to avoid mispronunciation and, just because it looks better. Also, a highly revered late 1960’s / early 1970’s rock band got the spelling right way back then so we ‘tip our cap’ to those talented guys who can spell just as well as they can rock. This is also a good illustration of how we might typically advocate for your project. We will build a convincing argument to the consent authority, challenge the established norms where it makes good sense to do so, and reference relevant precedents to achieve what we would consider to be the best result.

Another thing worth noting when choosing a town planner is that you may well initially speak to a very experienced director in the larger firms but, more often than not, your job will ultimately end up on the desk of a more junior planner who will do the vast majority of the work in putting together your DA and writing the Statement of Environmental Effects. Gordon Edgar has worked in the planning industry in New South Wales for 30 years and he alone will be putting together your development application and supporting material, if you should decide to choose Creedence Planning.

Getting down to dollars and sense. I am sure you are probably wondering how much your DA approval will cost you. As a recent re-start-up, Creedence Planning is seriously interested in repeat business from its clients and building up a good reputation as a dependable, cost-efficient, expert town planning consultancy, capable of handling any job. Towards this end, our fees have been set at a highly competitive level compared to the rest of the market with equivalent experience. This means you get ‘more bang for your buck’ than you would with our competitors but you still receive an expert level of service nonetheless. Why not contact us for a fee proposal and then shop around to see if you can get a better rate elsewhere? We guarantee that we will beat any legitimate quote for town planning services with a better price. Simply mention this blog and show us your fee proposal from another planning consultant. We won’t be able to afford to do this forever so take advantage of this limited offer now and save yourself some money in these difficult times.

The colourful logo for Creedence Planning (above) has been with us for almost 20 years and it was a pleasure to dust if off and bring it back for a second life. It symbolises Creedence Planning bringing together the built and natural environments harmoniously through good design, good planning and the juxtaposition of carefully chosen colours, text and detailing. Hopefully, it is an image that people will enjoy and remember. It also sums up what Creedence Planning is all about, we approach every task thoughtfully with a clear sense of direction and purpose to achieve the best possible outcome for our clients, all the while, getting all the little details right to achieve excellence in the big picture.

That's us, how about you?

Why not start the ball rolling, tell us about your project and ask us for an obligation-free fee proposal?