Council Guides – Page 5
Sourced local facts for individual councils: local plans, validation lists, CIL, Article 4 and SPDs.
Council Guides articles – page 5
140 articlesDropped kerbs: planning permission and the highway licence
A crossover involves two separate consents from the same council. Here is which one you need, in what order, and what the highway authority checks.
Planning enforcement: what happens after a complaint
Councils have a discretion to enforce rather than a duty. Here is what actually happens after someone reports a breach, and the routes out of one.
Discharging planning conditions before you start on site
A permission is not a licence to start. Here is how to work through the conditions on your decision notice and get them discharged in the right order.
Section 73 or a new application: changing an approved scheme
Section 96A, section 73 and a fresh application do different jobs. The choice usually turns on whether the change fits the description of development.
Applying on an allocated site: reading the policy properly
If your site is allocated in the adopted local plan, officers stop debating whether development belongs there and start auditing your scheme against the allocation text. Here is how to read it.
Neighbour notification: site notices, letters and press adverts
Article 15 of the Development Management Procedure Order sets what publicity a council must give an application. For most minor schemes it can choose a site notice or a letter.
Planning committee speaking rights: how to register and what to say
Speaking rights at planning committee are set by each council's constitution. Here is how registration works, when the papers appear, and what to put in three minutes.
Cross-boundary sites: applying to two councils at once
Where a site crosses a local authority boundary, each council determines its own part under its own local plan. Matched descriptions, aligned conditions and committee timing decide whether it works.
Pre-app advice: what a council officer can and cannot promise
Written pre-application advice is an opinion given without prejudice, not a decision. The value sits in the policy list, the consultee positions and the officer's view of harm.
HMO licensing and planning permission: two separate consents
A licence from the housing team says nothing about planning. Landlords who hold one and not the other are exposed on whichever side they have missed.
Prior approval refusals under Class MA: how councils reason
Councils can only refuse a Class MA prior approval on a short list of grounds. Natural light accounts for more refusals than the rest of the list put together.
Article 4 directions on shopfronts and commercial frontages
An Article 4 direction turns work you could have done freely into a planning application. On commercial frontages it usually catches painting, signage and conversion.
Section 106 or CIL: which applies to your scheme
The levy is a fixed charge on floorspace. A section 106 agreement is negotiated site-specific mitigation. Most schemes of any size end up doing both.
Council CIL charging schedules: reading zones and indexation
The rate printed in a charging schedule is almost never the rate you pay. Indexation, zone boundaries and floorspace deductions all sit between the two.
CIL Form 1 to Form 6: which notice to send and when
Most levy disputes start with a missed form rather than a disputed rate. Here is the running order from the application to the day before you start on site.
Site location plans councils accept: scale, red line and north point
The location plan is the one drawing every English council checks first. Get the scale, the red line and the north point right and validation stops being a lottery.
Local list validation requirements and the two year rule
A local validation requirement binds you only if it was published within the last two years and is reasonable for the scale of development. Here is how to check and how to argue it.
Extension of time agreements and the eight week clock
Agreeing an extension of time usually beats forcing a decision at week eight. Here is how the statutory periods work, what the fee refund covers and when to appeal instead.
Design codes and design review panels in decisions
A design code can carry development plan weight while a review panel only advises. Here is how each one affects an application and how to respond to both on paper.
Local plan review and five year housing land supply
The supply argument is won on the council's own published evidence. Here is where the monitoring report, the delivery test result and the tilted balance meet.
Two-tier areas: who handles highways and archaeology
The council that validates your application often is not the one commenting on access, drainage or archaeology. Here is how responsibilities split in two-tier areas and who to approach first.
National Landscape councils: extension and new-build tests
Inside a National Landscape the council must give great weight to natural beauty and refuse major development except in exceptional circumstances. Here is how those tests are applied to a rural extension or a replacement dwelling.
Neighbourhood plans: when they outrank the local plan
Made neighbourhood plans carry full development plan status, and conflict with the local plan is resolved by recency under section 38(5). Here is what those plans can lawfully do and how to write the policy section.
Lawful development certificates: proving works are lawful
A certificate asks whether development is lawful, not whether it is acceptable. Here is how the two sections differ, what the ten-year rule changed, and what evidence actually persuades an officer.
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