I am passionate about broadening involvement in shaping development proposals. I love it when plans respond to local input and deliver tangible benefits for local people.
Amar Benkreira
Amar leads our strategic communications and engagement strategies. He firmly believes that the built environment is at its best when it puts a diverse range of people and their lives at the heart of the planning and design process.
Amar specialises in political and policy counsel, stakeholder engagement, community engagement and public consultation. With a planning and development policy background, he has wide-ranging experience advising on the delivery of major regeneration, mixed-use, residential, education, energy, retail, health and leisure projects.
Amar's Projects
Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden
tor&co has been successfully advising Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden (WBSL) since 2009, supporting WBSL to become one of the leading film and TV studios in the world. In 2022, WBSL embarked on a strategy to expand and tor&co were appointed to lead the planning strategy and application. In early 2023, we secured planning permission, supported by an extensive public consultation and stakeholder engagement programme. Through ongoing focused meetings with key local stakeholders, public engagement events and a dedicated masterplan website, Leavesden’s community played a meaningful role in shaping the final masterplan proposal.
Having the opportunity to work with Warner Bros. has been a real privilege. The Leavesden team is genuinely passionate about playing an active role in the local community. The team is committed to making a positive social and environmental impact and to shaping a new generation of talent through their education and skills development initiatives.
Cambridge Road Estate
The regeneration scheme, a partnership between the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and Countryside Partnerships, will deliver approximately 2,170 new homes: a mix of flats, maisonettes and houses of various sizes. The new neighbourhood will include a minimum of an additional 114 council homes. Working with a dedicated team of master planners and architects, I led the planning and delivery of the public consultation strategy. Following ten months of engagement, in March 2020 residents of the Cambridge Road Estate voted overwhelmingly in favour of plans to regenerate their neighbourhood. Construction of new homes, community facilities and green spaces has now begun.
I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Countryside Partnerships and the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, who have put the local community at the heart of the regeneration strategy right from the start. I have particularly enjoyed leading extensive engagement with local young people, ensuring involvement from an often-underrepresented voice in the public consultation process.