PlanScope Blog – Page 122
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 122
9424 articlesLighting assessment for a sports pitch: section outline
Floodlighting assessments are read zone first, limits second and curfew third. This is the section order that survives consultation, and what each part has to carry.
Micro hydro on a mill leat or weir: consents explained
A micro hydro scheme on a mill leat needs planning permission, Environment Agency water consents and often listed building consent. The hands-off flow usually decides whether it is viable.
Planning documents when access is over a private road
Applying where the only access is a shared drive or unadopted lane means getting the ownership certificate, the notices and the visibility evidence right before an officer looks at the merits.
What counts as the principal elevation of a house
The principal elevation governs forward extensions, roof alterations, outbuilding positions and equipment on designated land. The indicators used to identify it, and corner plots.
Budgeting ground investigation for a brownfield plot
On a brownfield plot the budget question is not what the investigation costs but whether gas monitoring finishes before groundworks start. The stages, priced in order.
Worked example: canopy cover percentage for a site
Canopy cover is the plan area of tree crowns as a percentage of site area. An illustrative worked calculation, the rules on overlaps and exclusions, and how to report it.
A rooftop terrace or bar on a city centre building
A rooftop terrace is decided on patron noise at night, overlooking from above and wind comfort. The premises licence runs separately and asks different questions.
Documents where a septic tank serves the existing property
Extending a property served by a septic tank is a drainage project too. What the general binding rules require, how the field is sized, and what councils condition.
Evidence for development affecting a scheduled monument
Scheduled monument consent covers works to the monument. Development nearby needs a planning application with a setting assessment that follows the staged methodology.
The three to six person boundary for a small HMO
Class C4 runs from three to six residents sharing amenities. Above that the use is sui generis, and inside an Article 4 area even the small change needs permission.
Measuring eaves height on a sloping site
Permitted development heights come from the highest part of the ground next to the building, which usually helps on a slope. The three metre eaves limit near a boundary is what bites.
What an EIA screening and scoping request costs
Screening and scoping requests under the 2017 EIA Regulations carry no fee. The budget sits in the desk studies that make a request credible and the programme that follows.
Section outline: odour assessment for a hot food use
An odour assessment for a takeaway or restaurant follows a fixed logic: the menu, the receptors, the risk grade, then the duct route and abatement that answer it.
A rooftop plant enclosure on a commercial building
Rooftop plant applications turn on the night-time background sound level and on what the screen does to the roofline. Design the plant and the enclosure together.
What to submit for a site in a critical drainage area
Inside a critical drainage area the drainage target shifts from matching existing rates to improving on them, and a flood risk assessment is needed whatever the site size.
Class F1 against Class F2: which community use sits where
F1 holds institutions with a wide catchment, F2 holds facilities a neighbourhood cannot replace. Movement inside each class is free, movement between them needs permission.
Prior approval timescales and the deemed consent trap
The 56 day deemed consent provision only helps if the authority received a valid application. Securing and evidencing validity matters more than counting the days.
Budgeting an off-site biodiversity credit purchase
Off-site units and statutory credits are the expensive end of biodiversity net gain. The cost structure, the spatial multiplier that catches people out, and when the money leaves.
Checklist: photographic evidence for a planning appeal
A small, ordered set of recorded viewpoints does more for a householder appeal than extra argument. The conventions inspectors expect, and the 12-week deadline that fixes the set.
A clay pigeon or rifle shooting ground
A shooting ground application turns on impulsive gunfire noise and on the land taken by safety zones. Fix direction of fire first, then measure, then design the buildings.
Documents for a site in a coalfield referral area
Sites in a coalfield development referral area need a mining risk assessment with the application. Mine entries and shallow workings constrain the layout before any foundation design.
The 280 square metre test for a village shop
Class F2(a) protects a village shop from the flexibility of Class E, but only where the premises are 280 square metres or less and no other food shop sits within 1,000 metres.
Class ZA: demolition and rebuild of a single dwellinghouse
Class ZA of Part 20 permits demolition and rebuild of a single detached dwelling or block of flats, with hard tests on construction date, vacancy, footprint and height.
Why every planning report needs a named author and date
A technical report without a named author and a survey date carries less weight, and for licensed report types it is not evidence at all. What to check before submission.
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