Glossary – Page 4
Substantive definitions of planning terms with their policy source and a worked example.
Glossary articles – page 4
479 articlesCritical drainage area: what it means for a site
Critical drainage areas are about surface water and sewers, not rivers. Inside one, even a single infill dwelling in Flood Zone 1 needs an FRA and a drainage strategy.
Source protection zone: what it means for a site
Source protection zones are travel-time contours around public water supply boreholes. They rarely stop development, but they often rule out infiltration drainage and add a piling risk assessment.
Conceptual site model
The conceptual site model decides what your ground investigation costs. A specific model produces a targeted scope; a generic one produces a grid of holes and a second visit.
Lowest observed adverse effect level
LOAEL is the exposure above which adverse effects begin. National policy sets no number for it, which is why the reasoning behind the adopted value matters more than the measurement.
Greenfield runoff rate: what it means and how it is set
The greenfield runoff rate is an estimate of peak surface water flow from an undeveloped site, and it sets the attenuation volume. Here is how it is calculated and what evidence an authority expects.
Root protection area: how the BS 5837 figure is calculated
A root protection area is the ground around a tree that has to stay undisturbed. Here is how the radius is calculated, when the shape can be redrawn, and what the fencing line prevents.
The agent of change principle in planning decisions
Build next to an established venue or business and the new development carries the mitigation cost. How the principle is applied, the measures authorities expect, and the four limits it runs into.
What counts as a material consideration in planning
Materiality and weight are two different questions. This sets out the legal test under section 70 of the 1990 Act, the matters officers treat as material, and the ones they must ignore.
Chargeable development under the Community Infrastructure Levy
Chargeable development is the net new floorspace the levy actually bites on. The in-use test for existing buildings and the order in which notices are served decide most liabilities.
Rating level in a BS 4142 noise assessment
The rating level is the specific sound level of your plant plus a correction for tonality, impulsivity or intermittency, compared against the background sound level to give the excess that drives the conclusion.
Statements of common ground and what to concede
A statement of common ground agrees facts and keeps judgements out. Here is what belongs in it, how to concede cleanly, and how to use it to shorten an inquiry.
Call-in under section 77 and what triggers it
A called-in application is decided by the Secretary of State, not the council. Here is what attracts the power, what it does to your programme, and how to remove the hooks.
Article 31 directions restricting the grant of permission
A direction under article 31 stops an authority granting permission but not refusing it, and the statutory period keeps running. Here is what triggers one and how applicants get it lifted.
Tailpiece conditions and why they are unlawful
A condition that lets the authority approve something materially different from the permission, by correspondence and without publicity, is unlawful. Here is how to spot one and what to do about it.
Windfall sites and the housing supply calculation
Authorities may count an allowance for unidentified sites in their housing land supply, but only on compelling evidence. Here is what that evidence has to show and where it usually fails.
Conditions you must discharge before work starts
Pre-commencement conditions stop a permission being implemented until the authority approves the details. Here is how to spot them, how long discharge takes and how to keep the programme intact.
Material change of use: the test and the evidence
Section 55 gives no threshold for materiality. The method is to fix the planning unit, describe the character of each use and ask whether the difference matters in planning terms.
Habitable room: the definition amenity tests turn on
There is no single habitable room definition in planning. Which one applies depends on the test, and kitchens, studies and third bedrooms are where they part company.
Design sulfate class and why buried concrete depends on it
A design sulfate class turns soil and groundwater sampling into a concrete specification for foundations and buried drainage. Here is how the classification is built and why made ground changes it.
Background sound level and why BS 4142 depends on it
BS 4142 measures nothing in absolute terms. It compares the rating level of plant noise against the background sound level, so the derivation of that LA90 figure decides the outcome.
Prior approval: what it is and what it is not
The General Permitted Development Order grants the permission; prior approval only settles a short list of specified details. Start work before the period expires and you lose the right altogether.
Material considerations: what counts and what does not
Anything relating to the use and development of land can be a material consideration. Loss of view and property value cannot, and being material says nothing about weight.
Vibration dose values and construction vibration limits
The vibration dose value measures cumulative human exposure, while peak particle velocity measures damage risk to buildings. Here is how each is used and what a construction submission should commit to.
The SPOSH test in Part 2A contaminated land decisions
SPOSH is the statutory threshold at which land can be determined as contaminated. Here is what it means, why planning conditions handle almost every case instead, and what a desk study can and cannot conclude.
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