PlanScope Blog – Page 208
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 208
9236 articlesHousing Delivery Test
Three thresholds carry the practical content of the Housing Delivery Test: an action plan below 95 per cent, a 20 per cent buffer below 85, and the presumption below 75.
Responding to an allegation of unauthorised tree felling
Cutting down a protected tree without consent is a criminal offence with an unlimited fine. This sets out the offences, the exceptions that provide a defence, and the order in which to respond.
Demolition in a conservation area and relevant demolition
Conservation area consent went in 2013 and demolition control moved into planning permission. This covers relevant demolition, the offence and its defence, partial demolition, and the evidence a case needs.
Nutrient neutrality: a nitrogen budget for one dwelling
One house in an affected catchment needs the same appropriate assessment as a hundred. This works through an illustrative nitrogen budget, the inputs that change it and how a small applicant secures mitigation.
Daylight model accuracy: survey, massing and reveals
Most geometry in a daylight assessment was never measured. This sets out the error in each source, the sensitivity of results near thresholds, and the verification and disclosure a reviewer expects.
TM59 overheating modelling and modeller competence
There is no register of overheating modellers, so competence is shown through the work. This covers software validation, weather files, opening assumptions, acoustic coordination and the two compliance routes.
Shop to mixed use with a flat above under Part 3
A permitted development class lets a shop keep trading while adding up to two flats above. This covers the limits, the space standard and natural light conditions, access and the reversion right.
Waste and refuse strategies as unit numbers rise
The waste collection authority assesses whether residents reach the store, whether crews can drag containers to the vehicle, and whether the vehicle can turn. This covers all three as schemes grow.
A community centre extension funded by section 106
Unspent community facilities contributions sit with councils and are listed publicly. This illustrative walkthrough follows a hall committee from the Infrastructure Funding Statement to a completed extension.
An internal quality check before anything leaves the office
Validation rejections usually come from numbers that disagree between documents. This is the twenty minute cross-check that catches them, and a one page sheet to initial before upload.
Rear extension depth from the original rear wall
Class A depth limits are measured from the original rear wall, not the current one, so an earlier kitchen extension eats the allowance. This covers the datum, the limits and the evidence councils accept.
Weight given to a previous refusal on the same site
An earlier refusal has to be taken into account but does not settle the outcome. This covers the weight planning history carries, the changes that justify a different decision and the free resubmission.
Tree replacement conditions and how long they bind you
A protected tree removed under consent triggers a statutory replacement duty that runs with the land. The landscape condition on the permission runs separately. Here is how both work and how to vary them.
Archaeology conditions: watching brief or evaluation
Choosing between pre-determination trenching and a watching brief is a risk decision. This compares the archaeological stages, what each delivers and how to negotiate the condition wording.
Setting a rear dormer back from the eaves
A permitted development dormer must sit 200 millimetres back from the original eaves along the slope. Nothing requires a party wall set in, and design guides ask for one anyway.
Standing advice from planning consultees, explained
If standing advice applies, the consultee never sees your file. The published checklist becomes the test, and there is nobody to negotiate with.
The 45-degree guideline and neighbour amenity
The 45-degree line is local guidance rather than national policy. A breach is not automatically a refusal, and compliance is not a guarantee of approval.
The 100 square metre line in levy liability
Regulation 42 exempts new build under 100 square metres, but never where the development comprises a dwelling. This sets out the deduction rules, the extension and self-build exemptions and the form sequence.
Tree protection fencing: specification and timing
The fence has to be up before demolition, clearance or the welfare cabin, and strong enough that one person with a wheelbarrow cannot move it.
Dendrochronology and paint analysis: when councils ask
Scientific fabric analysis is requested when a date is disputed and the answer changes the decision. Taking the sample can itself need listed building consent.
White-clawed crayfish and biosecurity on site
Handling native crayfish needs a licence, and trapping needs a second one. The biosecurity obligations that follow are usually harder than the survey itself.
Japanese knotweed and the Schedule 9 offence
Section 14(2) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 bites on spreading knotweed, not on having it. This covers mapping, treatment options, waste duty of care, guarantees and the conditions councils impose.
Daylight conditions and what they can secure
Conditions secure the daylight mitigation an assessment has already shown works. This covers glazing and reveal specifications, obscure glazing wording, removing permitted development rights and condition timing.
Who signs a basement impact assessment
No single professional writes a basement impact assessment. Here is how the hydrogeology, geotechnical and structural strands fit together, who audits them and what the monitoring conditions bind.
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