PlanScope Blog – Page 221
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 221
9213 articlesSolar arrays on higher risk buildings and the fire case
Carbon policy wants the array and fire policy wants a clear roof. Here is how to reconcile them in the fire statement submitted at Planning Gateway One.
Energy statements for warehouse and logistics schemes
Low regulated demand and a huge roof make warehouse energy statements behave unlike housing. Here is how to present the percentage, the absolute saving and the offset position.
Sun on ground for allotments and community growing space
Growing plots need more sun than a garden, and the standard equinox test misses the summer loss. Here is how to measure overshadowing of allotments and frame an objection that carries weight.
Checking whether a watercourse is a main river
Main river status decides whether the Environment Agency or the lead local flood authority controls work near your channel, and how far from the bank that control reaches.
How a Community Infrastructure Levy charge is calculated
A levy charge is rate times net floorspace, indexed between two years. The deduction for existing floorspace is where most liability notices go wrong.
Reusing planning data under the Open Government Licence
Licensed public data can go into a paid report, with attribution and no implied endorsement. What the licence excludes, and why base mapping and imagery need separate terms.
Planning fees for a new dwelling and the sliding scale
New dwelling fees run per unit to a 50 dwelling threshold, then switch to a base plus increment. Outline applications are charged by site area, so the red line is a cost decision.
Judicial review costs risk for objectors
Judicial review tests legality, not merits, and winning sends the application back rather than stopping it. What the Aarhus costs caps cover, and the lower cost routes that remain open.
Policy codes in the Framework and older paragraph numbers
A paragraph number no longer identifies a test on its own. How to translate between Framework editions from the substance rather than a concordance table.
What happens after planning permission is granted
The detail a neighbour cares about is settled when conditions are discharged, and that stage is rarely publicised. How to follow it, and what enforcement can and cannot do.
Summarising an adopted local plan for a site appraisal
The development plan is narrower than most appraisals assume. How to identify every document, read the policies map, weigh supplementary guidance and build a policy schedule.
Electric vehicle charge points under Part 2 of the GPDO
Most charge points are permitted development under Part 2, with no prior approval step. The size and siting limits, the listed building exclusion, and the removal condition.
Choosing an arboriculturist and reading their credentials
There is no protected title in arboriculture, so the checks are yours to make. Qualifications, membership grades, the drawings you actually need and the quotation red flags.
Green roofs and living walls on tall buildings
A living wall on a tall building meets a restriction that a biodiverse roof does not. How to hit greening targets without a contested facade, and what the fire statement should say.
Consultation drafts and why they are not policy yet
Draft national policy is a weak material consideration, and treating it as operative policy damages the rest of your case. How weight builds, and how to time a submission around a change.
Solar canopies over car parks: the planning route
Car park solar canopies sit outside the small standalone solar permitted development class. What a full application has to answer on clearance, drainage, lighting, trees and grid capacity.
When a neighbour's room is served by two windows
Window-by-window daylight results mislead when a room has more than one opening. How to model the room, handle corner rooms and rooflights, and report without cherry picking.
Keeping constraint data current over a long project
Constraint evidence expires quietly over a multi-year programme. The datasets that change, the review points that catch them, and what to do when a designation lands mid-application.
Highway agreement costs in a development budget
The works price is the easy part of a highway agreement. Technical approval fees, bond premiums, road safety audits and commuted sums are where appraisals fall short.
Commenting on a prior approval application
A prior approval comment only counts if it goes to the specified matters. What the council may consider, what it must disregard, and why the deadline decides the outcome.
Fabricated references and how to spot them in a draft
A fabricated citation is well-formed and wrong. The checks for appeal references, neutral citations, statutory instruments and standards, and the routine that catches them before submission.
Class AA upward extension of a house: the real limits
Class AA permits additional storeys on some houses without a full application, subject to a narrow build date window, three height tests and a prior approval the council can refuse.
Checking a bat licence holder before you hire them
Bat licences are personal to the individual named on them. The checks to run before instructing an ecologist, and why an unlicensed survey can cost you a whole season.
Balconies and external decking in a fire statement
Stacked balconies and combustible decking drive regulator comments at Planning Gateway One. What a planning stage fire statement should describe, and how to condition materials without duplicating building control.
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