Des Cox, Director.

Vantage Planning was founded in 2025 by Des Cox as a premium planning consultancy focussing primarily on infrastructure strategy planning, consenting and delivery.

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Des has over 30 years of experience as a professional planning consultant in Ireland; the majority of his experience has been in the planning and delivery of strategic infrastructure development (SID)

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Des began his career with McHugh Consultants (now Tetratech RPS ) and gained invaluable experience in the planning and consenting of some of Dublin’s key infrastructure projects including the LUAS red and green lines, the Samuel Beckett and Sean O’Casey bridges, as well as major residential and commercial developments across the City and in the Greater Dublin Area.

Des then worked as a Senior Inspector in An Bord Pleanála (now An Coimisiún Pleanála), dealing with a significant variety of proposed developments, including major housing schemes.

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Upon leaving An Bord Pleanála, Des returned to RPS Planning & Environment as Operations Director of the Dublin office. In this role, he was lead planning consultant acting for Shell E&P Ireland in the consenting of major and often controversial strategic infrastructure projects, including the Corrib Gas onshore pipeline, and EirGrid’s East-West Interconnector and North South Interconnector.

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Since 2010, Des led the Planning & Environment team in EirGrid, delivering plans, strategies and consents for EirGrid’s ambitious grid development and enhancement programme, both offshore and onshore. This has included the Ireland-France Celtic Interconnector project, as well as major new circuits and substations across the country.  Des’s activities included strategy development, application preparation and administration, as well as client advisory, stakeholder engagement, leadership and management services.

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It is this experience and expertise in infrastructure strategy, planning and delivery that underpins the vision of Vantage Planning, as the preferred consultancy for a diverse range of clients committed to excellence in the planning and development of Ireland’s critical strategic infrastructure