Glossary – Page 10
Substantive definitions of planning terms with their policy source and a worked example.
Glossary articles – page 10
488 articlesNon-material amendment: what it means in planning
Section 96A amends the permission you already hold rather than creating a new one. Here is how councils judge materiality and what happens if they refuse.
Section 73 application: what it means in planning
Section 73 does not amend a permission. It creates a second one, which is why obligations, levy liability and discharged conditions all need checking again.
Prior approval: what it means in planning
Prior approval is not planning permission. It is a check on specified matters attached to a right the Order has already granted, with its own procedure and deadline.
Sui generis use: what it means in planning
A sui generis use sits outside every class in the Use Classes Order, so the flexibility that lets a shop become an office does not apply. Here is what that means for your site.
Material change of use: what it means in planning
Section 55 makes a material change in the use of land or buildings development, so it needs permission. Materiality is judged on the facts, against the planning unit.
Less than substantial harm: what it means in planning
Harm to a listed building or conservation area falls into one of two categories in national policy. The lower one still attracts great weight, and it is not a neutral finding.
Tilted balance: what it means in planning
When a council cannot rely on up-to-date policies, national policy tilts the decision towards approval. Here is when the presumption is engaged, what disapplies it, and what it does not do.
Planning unit: what it means in planning
Before a council can decide whether a use has changed materially, it has to fix the area it is judging. That area is the planning unit, and Burdle gives the three-part test used to identify it.
Section 106 triggers and when a payment falls due
The trigger turns an obligation into a debt. Negotiating it at heads of terms stage changes your cash flow far more than arguing about the quantum ever will.
Prior approval periods and when consent is deemed given
Deemed consent is a real right, but it only approves the details you submitted and it only runs if the application was valid on the day it arrived.
Percolation testing and soakaway design for drainage
The infiltration rate is the number that sizes your soakaway. Here is the test method, the groundwater constraint, and what to do when the ground will not take water.
Reasons for refusal and how a decision notice is read
A refusal notice must state full reasons and cite the policies relied on. The wording tells you whether you have a redesign, a missing document, or a site that will not take the scheme.
Design vehicles and choosing the right one for a layout
The design vehicle decides your turning head, your carriageway width and sometimes your plot count. Here is how to choose it and where the real dimensions come from.
Deliverable and developable sites in housing supply
Deliverable means a realistic prospect of delivery within five years. Developable is a softer, longer test. Most supply arguments at appeal turn on a handful of large sites.
Greenfield run-off rates and how they are calculated
The greenfield rate sets the discharge a development is allowed, and therefore the attenuation volume the layout has to accommodate. One number, a great deal of consequence.
Background sound level and how a survey establishes it
Background sound level is the A-weighted level exceeded for 90 per cent of an interval. Most disagreements in a BS 4142 assessment come down to how it was established.
The planning unit and how its boundary is drawn
The planning unit is the area compared before and after when testing for a material change of use. Move the boundary and the same facts produce the opposite answer.
Trip rates and how TRICS data is used in an assessment
A trip rate is only as good as the sites it came from. The filters applied to the database decide whether a highway authority accepts the transport assessment built on it.
The no-sky line and what daylight distribution measures
Daylight distribution compares the lit area of a room's working plane before and after a proposal. Below 0.8 times the former value, BRE 209 treats the loss as noticeable.
Ancillary use: when a subordinate use becomes a new one
An ancillary use has no independent existence. Once it functions on its own terms, a material change of use has happened under section 55 and permission is needed.
Rating level in BS 4142 and how it is derived
Rating level is specific sound level plus corrections for tonality, impulsivity and intermittency. Every correction, including a zero one, needs a stated basis.
Verified views: how an accurate visual representation works
A verified view has surveyed camera positions, recorded lens data and a georeferenced model. Without those, the image is indicative and will be treated as such.
Curtilage: what it includes and where the line falls
Curtilage decides whether an outbuilding is permitted development and whether a barn is protected as part of a listed building. It is a question of fact and degree.
Visibility splay: x-distance, y-distance and land control
The y-distance follows measured traffic speed, not the posted limit. How a splay is constructed, who has to control the land and what counts as an obstruction.
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