Glossary – Page 17
Substantive definitions of planning terms with their policy source and a worked example.
Glossary articles – page 17
480 articlesGround gas characteristic situations CS1 to CS6 explained
The characteristic situation decides the gas protection a building needs. It comes from concentration multiplied by flow, and it is only as good as the monitoring programme behind it.
Tree Preservation Orders: the consent you still need
A TPO means written consent before felling, topping or lopping. How to apply, when the six-week conservation area notice applies, and why the exemptions are narrower than owners assume.
Ancient woodland buffers and veteran trees explained
Ancient woodland needs a buffer of at least 15 metres, and a veteran tree needs 15 times its stem diameter. Both are larger than the BS 5837 root protection area, and both bite at layout stage.
Arboricultural method statement and tree protection plan
The method statement says how work near retained trees will be done; the protection plan shows where the barriers go. Here is what each needs under BS 5837:2012.
Attenuation and infiltration: two ways to hold water
Infiltration puts water into the ground, attenuation holds it back and releases it slowly. Ground investigation decides which, and the discharge hierarchy decides the order.
Critical drainage area: the local surface water flag
Sites in a critical drainage area need a flood risk assessment even in Flood Zone 1 and even when small. Here is who designates them, what the evidence looks like and how to check.
Finished floor level: the number that saves a flood case
Finished floor level decides whether a building stays dry in the design flood event. Here is how it is datumed, how freeboard is set, and what happens when the floor cannot be raised.
Residual risk: the section reviewers read first
Residual risk is what remains once every mitigation measure is in place and working. Here is what belongs in a residual flood risk section, how safe access differs from an evacuation plan, and how conditions allocate what is left.
Mitigation hierarchy: avoid, reduce, compensate
Avoid the harm, reduce what cannot be avoided, compensate for what remains. Here is where the hierarchy comes from, what separates real mitigation from decoration, and how measures are secured by condition or obligation.
Sensitivity and magnitude: how significance is scored
Significance is a judgement about consequence, built from the sensitivity of the receptor and the magnitude of the change. Here is how the two variables are described, where GLVIA3 and CIEEM guidance diverge, and how to make the reasoning visible.
Cumulative impact: how small schemes add up in policy
A scheme that causes no harm alone can cause harm alongside everything else coming forward. Here is how cumulative impact works as a material consideration, under the EIA Regulations 2017 and in traffic, air quality and ecology assessment.
Certificate A to D: the ownership declaration explained
Certificates A to D on the planning application form decide who has to be told about your proposal. Here is who counts as an owner, how notice is served, and what the agricultural holdings declaration means for rural sites.
Design and Access Statement: when one is legally required
Most householder applications do not legally need a Design and Access Statement. Knowing exactly when one is required, and when a council is simply asking, saves a fortnight.
Nationally Described Space Standard: what the figures mean
The space standard is a short table of gross internal areas by bedrooms, bedspaces and storeys, plus minimum bedroom sizes and a storage allowance. How it applies to your site is the harder question.
Sequential approach on a single site explained
The sequential test compares sites. The sequential approach works inside the red line of the one you have. Confusing the two is the fastest way to lose an Environment Agency consultation response.
Climate change allowance in a flood risk assessment
A climate change allowance is the uplift applied to modelled flood levels so a development is tested against the conditions expected over its lifetime, not today's. Getting the band and the lifetime right is most of the work.
Class MA: office to home prior approval explained
Class MA converts Class E buildings to homes through prior approval. The qualifying tests, the evidence councils check, and the natural light matter that defeats deep plans.
Section 96A: what counts as a non-material amendment
There is no statutory definition of non-material, so the choice between section 96A, section 73 and a fresh application is a judgement. How to make it correctly.
Permission in principle: the two stage consent route
Permission in principle settles use, location and amount in five weeks, then technical details consent fixes the scheme. When it beats outline, and when it does not.
Grey belt: what the definition means for Green Belt sites
Grey belt is a defined subset of the Green Belt tested against three of the five purposes. What qualifies, what the golden rules require, and what to evidence.
Nutrient neutrality vs water neutrality: two different rules
Two constraints, one legal route. What water neutrality and nutrient neutrality each measure, how the mitigation differs, and the evidence councils ask for.
Prior notification: the 28 day agricultural and demolition route
Prior notification tells the council what you intend to build or demolish and gives it 28 days to require approval of a short list of details. Here is how the agricultural and demolition routes work.
Nationally significant infrastructure and the DCO route
Power stations, motorways and reservoirs are decided nationally, not by the council. Here is how the development consent order process runs and the two dates that matter.
The retail impact test and the 2,500 square metre hurdle
Above the floorspace threshold, an out-of-centre proposal has to show it will not harm a defined centre. Here is what the test asks and how the arithmetic works.
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