PlanScope Blog – Page 149
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 149
9377 articlesChecking a consultant's experience before you rely on a report
Qualifications tell you someone is entitled to do the work. They do not tell you whether they have done this particular thing, with this authority, recently.
Milestones, signposts and other small listed structures
A milestone in your verge may be a listed building. The consent regime is identical to the one that applies to a listed farmhouse, and so are the penalties.
Duplicate applications and the twin track approach
Running a revised application alongside an appeal keeps two routes open. Section 70B is the reason it sometimes fails before it starts.
Heads of terms template for a twelve unit scheme
On a small major scheme the money is rarely the argument. The triggers, the index and the repayment mechanics are what take six weeks to settle.
Build over agreement or a sewer diversion
A public sewer crossing a site is a layout constraint before it is a legal one. Deciding between a build over agreement and a diversion at the wrong stage is expensive.
Waste stream forecasting in a site waste management plan
The statutory requirement for site waste management plans went in 2013, but the planning condition did not. A forecast you can report against is what discharges it.
Laboratories and whether they sit within Class E
A lab is Class E(g)(ii) research and development only if it could be carried out in a residential area without detriment to amenity. Containment level is what tests that.
Reviewing an AI-drafted report: the reviewer's scope
Review of a drafted report is a defined piece of work with a defined boundary. Setting that boundary in writing is what protects the reviewer who signs it off.
War memorials: listing, relocation and works
A great many war memorials are listed in their own right, so cleaning, re-lettering and relocation all need consent. The order in which you approach it matters.
Finding tree preservation order data online
National datasets now carry TPO records from many councils, but coverage is patchy and area orders resist mapping. Absence of a record proves very little.
Conditions offered at appeal and the inspector's discretion
An inspector who wants to allow an appeal still needs wording to attach to the permission. Supplying it, agreed with the council where possible, is among the best value work on an appeal.
Ventilation statement outline for a coffee roastery
Roasting is a process emission rather than kitchen odour, and the abatement, the flue and the use class all follow from that. Here is the order to write it in.
Ordinary watercourse consent or a flood risk activity permit
The regulator depends on whether the channel is a main river. Get that one question answered before you design a culvert, an outfall or a crossing.
Photographic register discipline in historic building recording
Conservation officers rarely reject a building record for poor photography. They reject it because the register cannot tell them what each frame shows or where it was taken from.
Soft play and trampoline parks: the right use class
Indoor play and trampolining fall within Class E(d) rather than the community class most operators assume. That changes what you can do without permission.
Briefing a consultant so the report answers the council
A technical report fails validation because nobody told the author which requirement it was answering. The brief is where that gets fixed, before any fee is agreed.
Boundary walls, railings and gates: when consent is needed
A garden wall at a listed house is often part of the listing itself. That single fact changes what you can repair, rebuild or take down without consent.
Using price paid data to sense-check a viability input
Price paid data will not replace a valuer, but it will tell you within an hour whether the sales values in an appraisal are defensible. Here is how to read it properly.
Rebuttal proofs and when an inspector will read them
An inspector allows a rebuttal proof rather than the Rules granting one. It earns its place only where the other side has raised something you could not reasonably have anticipated.
Odour risk assessment for a flat above a takeaway
Where a flat sits directly over a hot food unit, the duct route decides the application. This outline follows the order an environmental health officer reads it in.
Solar panels under permitted development or an application
Most domestic roof solar is permitted development under Part 14 of the GPDO 2015. The limits that push a scheme into a planning application are narrower than people expect.
Trench positioning in an archaeological field evaluation
Trench layout is settled in the written scheme of investigation before any machine arrives. Here is how sampling percentages, geophysics targeting and site constraints shape it.
What to do when a non material amendment is refused
A refused non material amendment cannot be appealed. The choice is between a section 73 application, a fresh application and changing the scheme, and the site programme usually decides.
Checking aerodrome safeguarding before designing tall structures
Aerodrome safeguarding sets a ceiling on your building before any planning policy does. The map is held by the council, and it is worth asking for on day one.
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