PlanScope Blog – Page 156
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 156
9364 articlesGrade I and II applications: the referral requirements
Referral adds two stages to a Grade I or II determination, not one: consultation, then notification of an intention to grant. Here is how each works and what it costs in time.
Walkthrough: solar farm on lower grade agricultural land
A greenfield solar scheme rests on the agricultural land classification survey, not the landscape work. This walkthrough follows the evidence, the pack and the conditions.
Affordable housing tenure mix as scheme size changes
The tenure split comes from the local plan, not national policy. What shifts with scheme size is whether a provider will take the units and how they can be managed.
Utility diversion budgets on a constrained site
Diversions are knowable while the land is still being appraised. Here is how to find the apparatus, price the move, and keep the enabling works off the critical path.
The movement and stability section of a basement assessment
Ground movement is the part of a basement assessment officers cannot interrogate and auditors always do. Here is what the section needs, structure by structure.
Reports for a micro-brewery or distillery in a unit
A brewery application turns on the use class, the boil odour and the trade effluent consent. Here is the document set, and what a taproom does to the lawful use.
Arboricultural qualifications and the BS 5837 author
There is no protected title in arboriculture, so anyone can put BS 5837 on a cover. Here is what the qualification levels mean and how to read a report for competence.
Basement light wells, escape and flood risk together
Escape wants a low cill, flood resilience wants a raised threshold, daylight wants a wide shallow well. Here is how to design a light well that satisfies all three.
Wind turbine noise and the rating method used in England
BS 4142 excludes wind turbines. English guidance points to ETSU-R-97 applied through the Institute of Acoustics good practice guide. Here is how the limits and the survey actually work.
Utility trenching close to trees on a development site
Most retained trees are lost to a service trench dug months after the arboricultural drawings were approved. Here is the routing hierarchy, the techniques and the conditions that actually work.
What listing protects inside historic pubs and shops
Listing covers the interior as well as the exterior, and the list description is not the limit of protection. Here is what counts as part of a listed pub or shop, and what consent needs.
Walkthrough: drive through unit at a trunk road junction
A drive through beside a trunk road junction turns on whether queueing can reach the strategic road network. This walkthrough follows the evidence, the pack and the conditions.
Fire and regulator consultation as building height rises
Cross 18 metres or seven storeys and the consultation list changes. Here is what each height threshold adds, how to measure it, and how to programme the responses.
Prior approval fees for Class MA and Part 3 changes
A Class MA prior approval application is charged once, however many flats it creates. Here is what the lower fee actually buys, and when a full application is better value.
The competency and sign-off section of a fire statement
Article 9A requires a fire statement from a competent person, but names no qualification. Here is who can credibly sign one, what evidence to file with it, and what the regulator checks.
Reports for a dog day care or kennels business
Animal boarding sits outside the Use Classes Order, so a change of use application is the only route. Here is the evidence a council will look for, and where barking noise decides the outcome.
Extension of time against accepting a refusal
Agreeing an extension keeps the case with the officer and usually gives up the fee refund. Letting the period expire buys an appeal you cannot amend. The right answer depends on the officer's position.
The archive and deposition section of an evaluation
Name the receiving museum before fieldwork starts, record the selection rationale as decisions are made, and state the digital formats. Most open archaeological conditions fail on one of the three.
Reports for converting a church to another use
Once a church stops being used for worship, the exemption that allowed reordering falls away. Add burials, bats and a single tall volume, and the document set grows quickly.
Tree shading of solar arrays and future growth
Partial shade costs more output than its size suggests, but felling a protected tree for an array rarely succeeds. A yield calculation plus a specified crown management cycle usually does.
Archaeological geophysics: matching technique to ground
Geophysics detects contrast, not archaeology. Geology, land use and the target decide which technique will work, and a negative result never proves a site is empty.
Listed building repairs and internal reordering
Repairs and alterations need separating in the schedule, because a conservation officer cannot approve what they cannot distinguish. An illustrative pack for a Grade II house, item by item.
Utilities capacity checks before you fix a unit number
A substation can cap a scheme more firmly than policy does. Run the network enquiries during design, and put the reinforcement cost per plot next to the section 106 assumptions.
Reports for a rainwater and greywater reuse scheme
A tighter optional efficiency standard and water neutrality areas are the two reasons water reaches the planning file. They ask for different evidence, so identify the constraint before sizing a tank.
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