Strategic assessments can make a real difference for developers, residents, businesses and the environment but they need to be done well. In our experience there are five key areas where expectations don’t meet reality and projects run into trouble. If you’re starting a strategic assessment, here’s what you need to know.

The availability and cost of offsets is quickly becoming a major constraint on development near Australia’s capital cities. When the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment set out to approve four new urban areas in Western Sydney, we took a fresh look at the problem to create an offset strategy that worked for regulators, developers, and the environment.