PlanScope Blog – Page 146
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 146
9382 articlesBudgeting a planning appeal as a small developer
An appeal budget has four lines: your time, professional fees, the cost of delay and the risk of a costs award. Here is how each procedure differs and when a resubmission wins.
Recording a shopfront before alteration
A shopfront record satisfies the recording condition and gives your designer the evidence to justify the new work. Here is what to measure, photograph and deposit, and when to do it.
Grey belt land: applying the definition to a site
Grey belt is a test of contribution to Green Belt purposes, not of how untidy land looks. Here is how to define the parcel, assess each purpose and evidence the conclusion.
Measuring height on a sloping plot for permitted development
On a sloping plot, permitted development height is measured from the highest part of the ground next to the building, not from the new floor level. Here is how to find and prove that datum.
Medical use in a shop unit: the frontage argument
A clinic in a shop unit is movement within Class E, so no permission is needed. Frontage policy re-enters through Article 4 directions, restrictive conditions and the shopfront application.
Third party representations at appeal and their weight
Inspectors weigh third party representations on planning content rather than volume. Here is what counts as material, when the deadline falls and how a letter can actually affect a decision.
Worked open space contribution from an adopted standard
An open space contribution is occupancy times the adopted standard, priced for provision and maintenance. Here is the calculation worked through for six dwellings, with illustrative rates.
Baseline years and why they date a technical report
The baseline date is the date a technical report starts expiring from. Here are the validity conventions by discipline, and how to avoid losing a survey season to a lapsed one.
Heathland disturbance zones and mitigation greenspace
Recreational disturbance to designated lowland heath is a legal test rather than a policy preference. Here is how the zones work, what greenspace standards apply and how the mitigation is secured.
Confirming permitted development with a lawful development certificate
A section 192 certificate confirms proposed works would be lawful; a section 191 certificate confirms existing works already are. Here is the evidence each needs and when the fee is worth paying.
Opening a day nursery in a Class E(f) unit
Class E(f) covers a creche or day nursery, so movement from a shop or office is not development. The obstacles are restrictive conditions, play space, drop-off parking and noise from children.
Proof of evidence summaries an inspector reads first
The summary is the part of your proof the inspector reads first and the part you read aloud at the inquiry. Here is how to write one that works as the case rather than as an abstract.
Travel plan for a rural employer with no bus service
Where there is no bus service, a travel plan has to carry its mode shift through car sharing, shift patterns and home working. Here is the structure that survives monitoring.
Mitigation registers and drafting conditions from them
Commitments buried in technical chapters rarely reach the condition schedule intact. A numbered mitigation register fixes that, and makes the draft conditions almost write themselves.
Proving the existing run-off rate on a brownfield site
Flood authorities test the existing run-off rate harder than any other input. Here is the evidence that proves connected impermeable area, and how betterment is applied to it.
Coal mining reporting areas and the referral process
A plot in a Development High Risk Area needs a Coal Mining Risk Assessment with the application. Here is how to check the mapping, what the report must say, and where the money goes.
Part 11 demolition: when prior notification is needed
Part 11 Class B of the GPDO 2015 permits demolition, subject to a prior notification of the method and restoration. Here is what goes in, what is excluded, and where consent is still needed.
Gym use and Class E(d): the tests that decide the scheme
Class E(d) covers indoor sport, recreation and fitness, so a shop or office can become a gym without permission. The real obstacles are restrictive conditions, plant noise and structure-borne noise from free weights.
Do you need a chartered town planner? RTPI membership explained
Planning is not a closed profession in England, so anyone can trade as a planning consultant. Here is what chartered RTPI membership means and when a small project actually needs one.
Changing a condition an inspector imposed on appeal
Conditions imposed on an allowed appeal are varied by a section 73 application to the local planning authority, not by the Inspectorate. Here is the route, the cost and how to avoid needing it.
Amended plans during determination: a submission checklist
The decision notice conditions whatever drawing numbers are on the plans list. Here is how to revise drawings mid-determination without ending up with a permission nobody can build from.
Cumulative effects chapters: which schemes to include
The EIA Regulations 2017 require cumulation with other existing and approved projects, but set no radius or cut-off date. Here is how to build, agree and defend the scheme list.
Lighting assessments and obtrusive light competence
A luminaire schedule is not an obtrusive light assessment. This sets out the zone classification that drives every limit, the competence to look for, and the condition to expect.
Amenity societies and how to deal with their objections
Society objections are usually about one piece of fabric. This sets out who must be notified, what each society covers, and the amendments that actually resolve a letter.
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