PlanScope Blog – Page 105
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 105
9457 articlesAppendices that complete a Transport Assessment
Highway engineers read the appendices first. Here is what each appendix of a Transport Assessment has to contain so the capacity results can be audited rather than argued about.
Documents for a scheme in a scheduled monument's setting
Development in the setting of a scheduled monument needs a setting assessment, archaeological baseline and agreed visual material. Here is the pack, and who has to be consulted.
The Wheatcroft principle on amended plans
Amended plans can be accepted mid-determination only if the change would not deprive consultees of the chance to comment. Here is how that test is applied, and what to do when it is borderline.
Transport Assessment cost: what makes one expensive
Surveys, modelling and mitigation drawings make up most of a Transport Assessment fee. Most of the cost is fixed by decisions taken before anyone is appointed.
Answering a lead local flood authority drainage objection
Drainage objections are technical, so the answer is calculations and evidence rather than policy argument. Often the right move is to offer a tightly drafted condition.
The appraisal inputs section of a viability assessment
A viability conclusion is only as good as its input schedule. Here is what each input needs by way of evidence, and where reviewing surveyors attack.
Documents for a vehicle wash on a commercial site
Vehicle washing is sui generis, so it needs permission even on a commercial site. The application turns on where the wash water goes and how loud the equipment is.
Self-build plot provision on larger residential sites
Serviced plot has a statutory meaning, and plots that miss it do not count. Here is the specification, the marketing period, the reversion mechanism and the section 106 drafting.
High hedge complaint or a private nuisance claim
The statutory high hedge scheme only covers evergreen hedges over two metres acting as a barrier to light or access. Everything else is a civil matter or self-help.
What drives the cost of an acoustic survey
Engineer time, not equipment, sets the price of an acoustic survey. Here is what each cost driver does and which scoping decisions actually reduce the fee.
Answering a daylight and sunlight refusal with BRE 209
Daylight refusals are answered with the right measure, a defensible baseline and a contextual argument. BRE targets are advisory and the guidance says so.
Documents for a soft play centre in a retail warehouse
Soft play in a retail warehouse is a within-class change on paper and a full application in practice, because unit conditions restrict the use. Here is the evidence the authority will want.
The tree schedule in an arboricultural impact assessment
The tree schedule is the part of an arboricultural impact assessment an officer checks line by line. Here are the BS 5837 fields, the measurement conventions and the errors reviewers find.
Veteran tree features and the planning consequences
Veteran status comes from decay and habitat features rather than age. It makes a tree irreplaceable habitat, with a 15 times stem diameter buffer and a very narrow policy test.
Transport Assessment or Statement: where the line falls
The 50 dwelling and 2,500 square metre figures are conventions, not law. Trip generation, the network and the authority's local list decide whether you need a statement or a full assessment.
Class E flexibility or a change of use application
Changes within Class E are not development, so no application is needed. Conditions restricting use, sui generis destinations and Article 4 directions are the three things that close the door.
Grampian conditions and the cost of third party land
Grampian conditions move the whole commercial risk of third party land onto the applicant. Here is how the exposure builds, and what to do before consent rather than after.
Answering a heritage harm refusal with public benefits
Heritage refusals turn on the balance between harm and public benefits. The statutory duties tilt that balance, so benefits have to be specific, quantified and secured.
Documents for adding storeys to a block of flats
Adding storeys to an existing block needs structural, daylight, fire and construction logistics evidence. Here is the document set and the order to produce it in.
Limiting factors in an agricultural land classification
Agricultural land classification grades are decided by the worst factor, not an average. Here is how climate, site, wetness and droughtiness each set a ceiling, and what the table must show.
Fallback position in planning and the real prospect test
A fallback position argues that refusing the application leads to something else lawful being built instead. The test is a real prospect of implementation, and the weight depends on the evidence.
Refuse, recycling and servicing as unit numbers rise
Refuse provision is set by the collection authority, not national policy. Here is how the container calculation, carry distances and vehicle tracking evidence change as unit numbers climb.
Class Q or Class R for a redundant farm building
Class Q and Class R both let a redundant agricultural building change use without a full application, but the allowed works, floorspace ceilings and prior approval matters differ sharply.
Tree works applications are free: what the evidence costs
Applications for consent to work on a protected tree carry no council fee. The spending is the arboricultural report, access and equipment for the works, and evidence if the council refuses.
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