PlanScope Blog – Page 16
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 16
9617 articlesOpening a street food yard or market
A multi-trader food yard is usually a sui generis mixed use needing permission. How the temporary use allowance works, why cumulative odour decides most applications, and what the submission should contain.
Green belt in the outer London boroughs
Outer London boroughs hold large areas of Metropolitan Green Belt, and Metropolitan Open Land gives the same protection inside the built-up area. How the inappropriateness test, openness comparison and very special circumstances work.
Listed building consent for partial demolition
Works to part of a listed building are alteration under the Shimizu reasoning, so the test is whether character is affected. How to assess the fabric being lost and what the authority will weigh.
Committee site visits and what members may consider
Site visits are governed by each council's own protocol rather than statute. What members go to see, why lobbying on site is prohibited, and how observations feed into the committee decision.
Refuse carry distances and bin store design
Two distances drive refuse design: about 30 metres from dwelling to store and about 25 metres from store to vehicle. How to size containers, set out a store and show the geometry on planning drawings.
How gross internal area is measured for the levy
The Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations charge on gross internal area but never define it. What the RICS convention includes, how existing floorspace is deducted, and the 28 and 60 day challenge windows.
Reservoir inundation mapping and emergency planning
Sites downstream of a large raised reservoir appear in a mapped inundation extent that carries no annual probability. What the mapping shows, why it is not a flood zone, and what the authority expects on safe access and evacuation.
Bat roosts in roofs: survey before loft conversion
Roof voids are bat habitat, and a roost stays protected when empty. The preliminary roost assessment, the emergence survey season, Natural England licensing and the mitigation a converted roof can carry.
Caravans, mobile homes and annexes in a garden
Stationing a caravan in a garden is not building work, but independent occupation of it is a material change of use. Where the incidental, ancillary and separate dwelling lines fall, and the site licensing regime behind them.
Adding a post office counter inside a shop
Both a shop and a post office counter fall within Class E, so the change of use is normally outside planning control. Restrictive conditions, Article 4 directions, shutters and signage are where applications still arise.
Night-time uses in London: licensing against planning
Licensing and planning are separate regimes with different tests, and the more restrictive control always wins. What each one actually governs for a London late-night venue, and how to sequence the two applications.
The deadline for submitting reserved matters
Outline permissions carry two clocks: three years to apply for approval of reserved matters, then two years to begin development after the last matter is approved. Both can be varied by condition.
Opening a pharmacy within a health centre
A pharmacy in a health centre is usually movement within Class E. Conditions on the original permission, the planning unit question and the frontage works decide these schemes.
Safeguarding a heat network connection in London
In a Heat Network Priority Area the expectation is a communal low temperature system and a connectable interface. Safeguarding has to be drawn, not described.
Appealing against a planning condition on its own
You can appeal a condition alone, but the inspector redetermines the application and can refuse the permission. Section 73 keeps the original permission alive.
Scotland: croft land and planning for a new house
Two consents, two bodies, neither binding the other. Decrofting removes the house site from crofting tenure but grants no right to build.
Pre-demolition audits and reuse expectations in London
A pre-demolition audit records materials, quantities, condition and a realistic destination for each. Commission it while the building is still standing and accessible.
The local validation list and its two year review cycle
Article 11 limits validation requirements to a local list published within the preceding two years, with each item reasonable in scale and material to the decision.
Controlled parking zones and permit free conditions
A planning condition cannot control whether a council issues parking permits. Permit free occupation works through a section 106 obligation and the traffic regulation order.
Levy abatement for existing lawful floorspace
Existing floorspace only reduces a levy liability where the building passes the in-use test: lawful use for six continuous months within the preceding three years.
Foul drainage capacity enquiries before you apply
You have a right to connect to a public sewer, so capacity problems arrive through the planning system as a condition. The pre-development enquiry is the evidence.
Treasure, finds and the landowner's position
Treasure vests in the Crown and must be reported within 14 days. Everything outside the statutory definition belongs to the landowner, not the finder.
Biodiversity net gain on solar farms
Arable baselines are low and grassland under panels scores well, so solar schemes rarely struggle for units. Proving condition and reconciling 30 years with decommissioning is harder.
Part 20 upward extensions to create new dwellings
Part 20 allows new flats on top of existing buildings by prior approval, within storey and height caps and a construction date condition that rules out much of the stock.
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