Planning Process – Page 6
The application procedure end to end: types, validation, consultation, conditions and decisions.
Planning Process articles – page 6
156 articlesUnilateral undertaking or section 106 agreement
A unilateral undertaking and a section 106 agreement do the same legal job, but only one needs the council's signature. Here is how to choose, who has to be a party, and how to draft so the deed completes quickly.
Certificates of lawful existing use: evidence that persuades
Section 191 certificates are decided on fact and law, with the burden on the applicant. Here is how the immunity periods changed in 2024, which evidence carries weight, and how to deal with the thin years.
Time limits on permissions and how to keep one alive
Section 91 gives most permissions three years to begin, section 92 sets a two-stage clock for outline schemes, and renewal applications no longer exist. Here is how to protect a permission before it expires.
What counts as a material operation to implement a permission
A permission is implemented once a material operation under section 56 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is lawfully carried out. Here is what counts, what does not, and how to evidence the start.
Amending drawings after submission without restarting
Amended plans are a request, not a right. What councils accept during determination, what re-consultation costs you, and when withdrawal is the better route.
The description of development: why the wording binds you
Conditions can be varied and plans amended. The description of development cannot, which is why a unit count in the wrong place fixes a scheme for its whole life.
When a committee defers an application, and what follows
A deferral is not a refusal. Which of the four kinds you have determines whether the application is still live, and whether the determination clock is about to run out.
Scoping opinions: fixing the environmental statement early
Under regulation 15 an authority has five weeks to adopt a scoping opinion, and the environmental statement must then follow it. How to write a request that fixes a proportionate scope.
EIA screening opinions: the request and the three weeks
A local planning authority has three weeks to adopt an EIA screening opinion. What the request must contain, which Schedule 2 thresholds matter, and how a positive opinion reshapes the programme.
Discharging conditions: bundling, fees and the eight weeks
The conditions on a permission are a programme in disguise. Reading them for their trigger point, then bundling sensibly, is what keeps a start on site to schedule.
Section 73: varying a condition without losing the permission
Section 73 is the workhorse of post-permission change, and the traps are consistent: the description of development, the conditions that must be re-imposed, and the levy.
Extensions of time: when to agree one and when not to
Councils ask for extensions of time as a matter of routine. Whether to agree depends on what is actually holding the application up and what the delay costs you.
The 21-day publicity period and neighbour notification
Site notice, letter or newspaper advert: the method depends on the type of development, and each carries its own minimum period before the council can decide.
Pre-application advice: what to ask for and what you get
The response is officer opinion and binds nobody. What it can give you is the validation list, the policies and the pushback points, in writing, before you submit.
Prior approval procedure: the clocks and the traps
Prior approval is not permission. It only works if the class conditions are met, and the 56-day deemed consent only runs from a valid application with the right fee.
Challenging a planning permission in the High Court
The court reviews how the decision was taken, not whether it was right. The routes, the six-week clock, the grounds that work and what a quashing order actually achieves.
Your planning decision notice: what actually binds you
Only two parts of a decision notice bind you: the conditions and the approved plans list. Here is how to read the rest, and what to do in the first hour.
How to read a planning officer report before committee
The officer's report is the council's own case for the decision. Here is how to read one section by section, and which errors are worth raising before members vote.
Screening and scoping opinions: the EIA procedure
A screening opinion tells you whether an environmental statement is needed. Requesting it early, with the right content, is what keeps a major scheme's programme intact.
Planning performance agreements on a major scheme
A performance agreement buys named officers, dated stages and an escalation route. It cannot buy a decision, and a scheme that conflicts with policy gains nothing from one.
Twin tracking and duplicate applications: is it worth it
Running two applications at once buys optionality and costs two full fees. Here is when it earns its keep and when an extension of time does the same job.
Withdrawing and resubmitting an application
Withdrawing avoids a refusal on the record but starts the free go clock earlier and gives up an appeal right. Here is how to decide which route serves the scheme.
Planning fees: reading the schedule and the free go
Planning fees in England come from one national schedule. Here is how the categories work, which applications carry no fee, and when a second application is free.
Permission in principle and technical details consent
Permission in principle fixes location, use and amount, and nothing else. No conditions can be attached, so everything moves to a single technical details consent application.
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