PlanScope Blog – Page 174
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 174
9331 articlesClass Q conversion or a new countryside dwelling
Two routes turn a redundant barn into a house. One is fast and capped, the other is open-ended and policy-tested. Here is how to pick before you spend on drawings.
Original dwellinghouse and why the baseline matters
Permitted development limits are measured from the house as first built, not the house you bought. Here is how to work out your real baseline and prove it.
Farm reservoirs and the Reservoirs Act threshold
The volume above natural ground level decides whether a farm reservoir carries registration and panel engineer duties for life. How planning, abstraction and waste rules interact with it.
Agricultural prior notification or prior approval
Part 6 has two stages: a determination asking whether the authority wants to control siting, design and appearance, then approval of those details. What each controls, and the limits on both.
Article 1(5) land: what the designation removes
The phrase survives from the 1995 order; the current equivalent is article 2(3) land. What it covers, and which Part 1 rights it restricts for extensions, dormers, cladding and outbuildings.
Free go resubmission or an appeal after refusal
An appeal judges the scheme exactly as refused; a resubmission lets you change it. The fee exemption conditions, the deadlines for each route, and how the refusal reasons decide it.
Schedule 3 SuDS approval and where it stands
Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 has never been brought into force in England, though it has applied in Wales since 2019. What it would change, and how to design for either outcome.
The simple index approach to surface water quality
Water quality is assessed separately from attenuation, and a sealed tank provides no treatment at all. How hazard and mitigation indices are compared, and where a detailed assessment takes over.
Stop new rights of way with a deposited statement
Twenty years of unchallenged public use creates a right of way. A landowner statement and declaration under section 31(6) of the Highways Act 1980 is the documentary answer.
Viability appraisal outputs: what to submit
A reviewer's first job is to rebuild your residual from your inputs. The three documents to submit, how to handle publication and redaction, and the reconciliation table nobody provides.
Green roofs, biodiversity and fire spread
Biodiverse roofs are varied and dry, which is what makes them valuable and what makes fire spread a concern. How borders, substrate depth, arrays and maintenance reconcile the two.
Manege floodlighting in open countryside
The arena and its lighting are judged differently. How obtrusive light zones, column design, curfew conditions and bat commuting routes decide a manege floodlighting application.
EIA screening or scoping: which step are you at
Screening answers whether you need an Environmental Statement, scoping answers what goes in it. The Schedule 2 thresholds, the sensitive area rule, and why negative opinions get challenged.
The biodiversity gain condition on every permission
The biodiversity gain condition is deemed into the permission, so it will not appear on the decision notice. What the plan must contain, the exemption routes, and what happens if it is refused.
Flood risk standing advice and where it stops
Standing advice lets a council decide smaller applications without consulting the Environment Agency. It does not remove the need for a flood risk assessment, and four categories fall outside it.
Section 38 consent for works on registered common land
Section 38 of the Commons Act 2006 makes restricted works on registered common land unlawful without consent from the Secretary of State. What counts, who decides, and what evidence wins.
Meanwhile use and its effect on benchmark land value
Interim income rarely moves benchmark land value as much as developers expect, and it can cost you the vacant building credit. What to evidence, and how to structure the occupation.
Balcony materials on residential buildings
Balconies are specified attachments under regulation 7(2), and Approved Document B guidance reaches down to 11 metres. What that means for decking, soffits, balustrades, screens and drainage.
Part 6 Class B: farm buildings on units under 5ha
Class B of Part 6 covers agricultural units of less than 5 hectares, and it does not permit a new building. What it does allow, the size and proximity limits, and how prior notification works.
Section 278 works or a section 38 adoption agreement
Most schemes need both a section 278 for the site access and a section 38 for the estate roads. What each secures, what they cost, and how they interact with an occupation condition.
Ten year enforcement time limit and proving immunity
Every breach of planning control in England now carries a ten year enforcement time limit. The transitional treatment of earlier breaches, the exceptions, and the evidence a certificate application needs.
Safe access and egress: dry routes and alternatives
A dry route is the benchmark for safe access and egress. Where one cannot be provided, the argument moves to hazard rating, refuge and evacuation, and the evidence has to be drawn rather than asserted.
Radon affected areas and what planning controls
A radon affected area is a mapped probability rather than a planning constraint. Where the Building Regulations take over, and the four situations where a planning condition is still justified.
Viability on a listed building conversion
Repair costs on a neglected listed building often exceed what the finished scheme can support. How to evidence that conservation deficit, and what councils accept in return.
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