Data Tools How-To – Page 4
How to use the public datasets and maps that planning applications rely on.
Data Tools How-To articles – page 4
159 articlesOwnership certificates and reading a title for them
The ownership certificate states who owned the application land 21 days before submission. Getting it wrong can cost the permission, not just the validation date.
Reading an adopted policies map for a site
The adopted policies map shows where local plan policies apply. Find the current version, record each designation, then cross-check the national flood and habitat datasets.
Finding the Local Nature Recovery Strategy habitat map
The local habitat map decides the strategic significance multiplier in your biodiversity metric. How to find the right strategy, read it properly and record the version.
Using aerial and street level imagery as planning evidence
Publicly available imagery settles footprints, boundaries and street character, and proves very little about continuity of use. Record the capture date and build the argument around it.
Finding and using appeal decisions on a topic
The appeals portal finds cases by reference, not by issue. Here are four techniques that work, how to read a decision letter for its reasoning, and how to cite one without overstating it.
Finding the local validation checklist for an authority
Every English authority publishes a local list of information requirements alongside the national list in the Development Management Procedure Order. Here is where to find it, how to date it and how to argue with it.
Reading a geological map for a development site
Published geology is a hypothesis to test, not a survey. How to read it, pair it with borehole records, and turn the result into a site investigation brief.
The planning data service and how current its datasets are
The national planning data platform is the fastest first pass on a site, and every entity tells you who published it and when. How to use that, and where to go behind it.
Tracking consultee responses during determination
Consultee responses are the clearest signal you get before a decision. Where they appear, who is consulted, how to read a holding objection and when to agree an extension of time.
Finding published pre-application advice charges
Pre-application charges are set locally under a discretionary charging power, so they differ between councils. Here is where the schedules are published and what each service tier actually includes.
Public rights of way across a development site
Footpaths and bridleways survive a grant of planning permission. Here is how to check the definitive map and statement, and how section 257 and Highways Act orders run alongside an application.
Reading a section 106 agreement on the register
A section 106 binds the land, not the developer who signed it. Here is where agreements are published, what the exclusion clauses mean for a purchaser, and how to check what has actually been paid.
Checking the housing land supply position of an authority
A stated five year supply usually rests on two or three large sites. Here is where the figures are published, how to test the site list against the deliverability definition, and how the position changes a decision.
Finding conservation area appraisals and management plans
The conservation area appraisal is the council's own statement of what makes an area special. Here is where authorities publish it, and how to turn its character areas and positive contributor lists into application text.
Checking source protection zones and groundwater data
An inner source protection zone usually rules out infiltration drainage. Where to check, what the zones mean and what evidence the regulator expects.
Using TRICS data properly in a transport statement
Two consultants can derive trip rates for the same scheme that differ by a factor of two. Site selection, filters, mode share adjustment and the audit trail.
Checking a site against aerodrome safeguarding maps
Officially safeguarded aerodromes carry deposited maps that trigger statutory consultation on height, cranes, bird attractants and radar. Here is how to check a site and what to submit.
Reading a CIL charging schedule and instalment policy
The printed rate is not the figure you pay. How zones, indexation, floorspace deductions and the commencement notice decide a levy liability.
Using historic mapping to build a site history
Successive map editions show what stood on a site, what was dug out and what was filled back in. How to build the chronology that drives a conceptual site model.
Checking air quality data before a planning application
Background concentrations, council monitoring reports and the AQMA boundary are all free and public. How to gather them, what diffusion tube data can support, and when site monitoring is worth it.
Searching appeal decisions on the casework service
Appeal decisions are material considerations, not precedent. Here is how to search the casework service, read a decision for transferable reasoning, and cite it without overclaiming.
Using the planning register to research a precedent
A comparable decision is a material consideration, not a binding precedent. Here is how to find the right cases on the register, read them properly and cite them without overclaiming.
Finding your local plan policies map and using it
The policies map shows where each local plan policy applies. Here is how to find it, read the layers that matter for a householder scheme, and quote the policy properly.
Checking a site against the coal mining risk data
On the coalfield a coal mining risk assessment is a validation item, and the check that triggers it takes minutes. Here is how to run it and what the report has to contain.
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