Comparisons – Page 6
Side-by-side explanations of reports, consents and application types that people confuse.
Comparisons articles – page 6
266 articlesScreening opinion or a Secretary of State direction
On a borderline Schedule 2 scheme, the difference between a local screening opinion and a Secretary of State direction can decide whether you spend six months on an Environmental Statement.
Design code compliance or a design and access statement
One is a statutory document under Article 9 of the DMPO 2015, the other an audit against an adopted code. Where a code covers your site you need both, doing different jobs.
Flood risk assessment or a drainage note on a small site
Flood zone and site area decide whether you need a flood risk assessment. Surface water drainage is a separate question that almost every new dwelling now has to answer, whatever the zone.
Nutrient neutrality work or the biodiversity metric
A nutrient budget protects a European site under the habitats regime and has to be resolved before permission. The biodiversity metric delivers a ten per cent gain under a condition after permission. Two regimes, two programmes.
Overheating under Part O or a dynamic model
The simplified Part O route is a table you pass or fail. TM59 modelling tells you which room overheats and why. Planning policy usually requires the second.
BS 4142 or a residential noise design approach
BS 4142 asks whether a commercial source causes an adverse impact. The residential design approach asks whether new dwellings will be acceptable to live in. Most mixed sites need both.
Verified views or wirelines in landscape visual work
A wireline shows where a proposal sits and how much of it you would see. A verified view shows what it would look like. Which one an officer needs depends on the objection.
Temporary permission or personal permission: which
A time limit answers an untested effect. A personal condition answers a use that is only acceptable because of the operator. Choosing the wrong one produces a consent you cannot sell or renew.
Extension of time or non-determination appeal
Agreeing an extension of time keeps influence with the officer but can displace the fee refund. Appealing non-determination takes the decision away and lets the council write its reasons after seeing yours.
Grampian condition or section 106 obligation: choosing
Money means a deed. A physical event that must happen before development proceeds usually means a negatively worded condition. The hard cases are off-site works on land the applicant does not control.
Biodiversity metric work or an ecological appraisal
Metric work and ecological appraisal answer different questions, use different competences and fail in different ways. Commissioning one and assuming it covers the other is a common and expensive mistake.
Prior approval or a lawful development certificate
Prior approval and a section 192 certificate answer different questions, and conversion schemes often need both. Here is what each decides, the deemed consent trap and what a lender expects.
Travel plan or transport statement: what each one does
A transport statement is finished when it is submitted. A travel plan starts working when the first occupier moves in. Above most local thresholds, a scheme needs both and they have to agree with each other.
Fire statement or fire safety strategy: which you need
The fire statement is a planning validation document consulted on with the Health and Safety Executive. The fire safety strategy is the engineering document behind Gateways Two and Three. Most residential blocks need both.
Section 73 against section 96A: changing an approved scheme
One route creates a fresh permission with conditions that must be read line by line. The other changes the existing permission with no consultation at all.
Householder appeal or the fast track commercial route
The householder and minor commercial appeal services trade flexibility for speed. Eligibility is decided by what you applied for, not by what the building is used for.
Section 106 monitoring fee or an administration charge
Councils can charge for monitoring planning obligations under a power added to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 in 2020. The legal costs of drafting the deed are a separate, contractual matter.
Space standard or local minimum unit sizes: which binds
Three possible answers on any site: the adopted local figure, the national standard, or the permitted development requirement. How to find which one binds.
Tree replacement notice or an enforcement notice
A tree replacement notice enforces the duty to replant under section 206. An enforcement notice remedies a breach of planning control. Which applies, and what to do.
Hazardous substances consent or an environmental permit
Hazardous substances consent and environmental permitting regulate different things. Thresholds, consultation zones, regulators and the sequence that avoids delay.
Local Green Space or Green Belt: which protects a field
Local Green Space and Green Belt both restrict development, but only one can be started by a community. A practical comparison of the routes, tests and evidence.
Costs award or judicial review after a decision
One route recovers wasted expense, the other sends a decision back to be retaken. Here is what separates a costs application from a statutory challenge, and how to decide which you need.
Hearing or inquiry: choosing an appeal procedure
Hearings are inquisitorial, inquiries are adversarial, and the Planning Inspectorate decides which you get. Here are the criteria, the evidence each procedure needs and how to make the case.
Class MA or Class Q prior approval
Class MA converts Class E premises to homes and Class Q converts agricultural buildings. The qualifying periods, prior approval matters and designated land rules are different in every respect that counts.
Not sure which documents your council will ask for?
Enter your postcode and PlanScope recommends the right reports for your project, then drafts them in minutes.
Enter your postcode on PlanScope