PlanScope Blog – Page 195
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 195
9293 articlesScreening opinion or a Secretary of State direction
On a borderline Schedule 2 scheme, the difference between a local screening opinion and a Secretary of State direction can decide whether you spend six months on an Environmental Statement.
Trip rate data access and transport evidence costs
The report is rarely the expensive part. Licensed trip rate data, commissioned surveys, junction modelling and a required authority model run are what move a transport budget.
Which reports a farm shop in an agricultural building needs
Diversification policy and highway safety decide most farm shop applications. The proportion of goods produced on the holding is what tells you which evidence matters most.
The 2020 Use Classes Order amendment and Class E
Class E folded shops, offices, restaurants, gyms, clinics and light industry into one class, while pubs, takeaways and cinemas were pushed out into sui generis. The consequences are still surfacing.
Are neighbours reconsulted on amended plans
No rule requires a council to write to you again when drawings are substituted mid-application. The discretion has legal limits, and a short targeted request is how you test them.
Reverting to a previous lawful use and when it is allowed
Going back to a former use is a change of use in its own right. Section 57 covers only narrow cases, and abandonment defeats most other reversion arguments.
Peer review against a second opinion on a technical report
Access to the underlying model and measurement files usually decides whether a peer review or a fresh second opinion is the right commission on a contested report.
Loss of outlook and enclosure as separate amenity harms
Daylight loss is a quantity question with numbers. Outlook and enclosure are judgements about what an occupier sees and how close the mass sits. Each needs different evidence.
Gas boilers in an energy statement and where policy stands
Part L still permits a gas boiler in a new dwelling while local plan carbon and heat network policies often rule it out. What the energy statement has to show either way.
Drainage Strategy outline with a worked runoff example
The section order a lead local flood authority expects in a drainage strategy, with one clearly illustrative runoff and attenuation calculation to show the method.
Design code compliance or a design and access statement
One is a statutory document under Article 9 of the DMPO 2015, the other an audit against an adopted code. Where a code covers your site you need both, doing different jobs.
The cost of an aborted application and what is recoverable
There is no statutory refund when you withdraw a planning application, but there is a free second attempt within 12 months and a good deal of professional work that survives. Here is how to tell which parts do.
Which reports a retail unit above the impact threshold needs
Out-of-centre retail development above the plan-set or default 2,500 m2 threshold has to pass both the sequential and impact tests. Here is the evidence base that carries it, and the order to commission it in.
Crown land applications and the urgent Crown route
Crown immunity from planning control ended in 2006. Crown bodies now apply like anyone else, with a separate urgent route that takes the decision to the Secretary of State.
Which reports a one hectare site in Flood Zone 1 needs
One hectare is the threshold that brings a flood risk assessment into Flood Zone 1. The governing source is usually surface water, and the drainage design carries most of the evidential weight.
Environmental permits alongside planning permission
A permit regulates how an activity operates. Planning decides whether the land use is acceptable. Neither authorises the other, and planning should not duplicate what the permit controls.
Building Safety Regulator charges on a tall building
Gateway charges are recovered for time spent, not levied as a fixed fee. The quality of the information submitted is what decides the cost, and gateway two sits on the critical path before work starts.
Reports for a 1,000 square metre residential building
A thousand square metres of residential floorspace makes a scheme major development and puts fire safety information on the agenda. The statutory Fire Statement trigger is keyed to height, not floorspace, and both need checking.
Demolition and when prior approval is required
Demolition is development, but most demolition outside conservation areas is permitted subject to prior approval of the method and the restoration of the site. The exceptions are where the offences sit.
Plan making reform and the 30 month local plan timetable
The 2023 Act rebuilds local plan preparation around gateway assessments and a shorter statutory timetable. Whether the provisions are in force depends on regulations and updated guidance, so check the current position before advising on programme.
Working from home: when a home office needs consent
Most home working is incidental to living in the house and needs no permission. Visitors, employees, deliveries, noise and storage are what change the character of the use.
Checking whether the report author visited the site
A report built on a site inspection reads differently from one built on a database. Dates, survey conditions, photographs and the limitations section usually give the answer before you have to ask.
Circular economy targets and how they are evidenced
A circular economy statement is only as good as the evidence behind its numbers. Targets for reuse, recycling and design for disassembly have to be traceable to the demolition audit and the structural design.
Flood Risk Assessment outline for a Flood Zone 2 scheme
A minor scheme in Flood Zone 2 needs a proportionate assessment, not a major site's model. Here is the section order that the Environment Agency and lead local flood authority expect, and what belongs in each.
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