PlanScope Blog – Page 236
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 236
9185 articlesRelocating or adding a bus stop for a development
A new bus stop is rarely a drawing exercise. It is a negotiation with the transport authority and the operator, plus a traffic order that can take longer than the planning application.
Who can prepare an Environmental Statement
The 2017 Regulations put competence on the applicant. You must use competent experts and you must say who they are and what qualifies them.
Checking conservation area boundaries on the planning data service
The national planning data service maps conservation areas and Article 4 directions for free. It is a copy of the council record, not the legal one, and that difference matters.
Local Development Order or a permitted development right
Both grant planning permission without an application. One is written by the Secretary of State for the whole of England, the other by your council for a named site.
Reports for a self-build plot on a shared private drive
On a backland self-build plot the access decides the application. Here is the evidence councils expect where the drive, the visibility splay and the drainage all sit on someone else's land.
Permission in principle: what it means in planning
Permission in principle fixes three things and nothing else: use, location and amount of development. Everything else waits for a technical details consent application.
Part 16 prior approval or full permission for a mast
Most mobile masts are built under Part 16 of the GPDO 2015, where the council can only consider siting and appearance. Step outside the class and the whole scheme is up for assessment.
Article 4 direction: what it means in planning
An Article 4 direction is how a council switches off permitted development rights street by street. The works stay possible, but they need a planning application first.
Lawful development certificate: what it means in planning
A lawful development certificate is not permission. It is the council's binding confirmation that permission was never needed, or that the time to enforce has run out.
Budgeting a householder extension from design to decision
The planning fee is the smallest line in an extension budget. Here is everything else, and the order of spending that wastes the least money.
Reports for a drive-through unit on a retail park
The lane is what makes a drive-through different. Here is the evidence base it generates, from queue modelling to the retail sequential test.
Non-material amendment: what it means in planning
Section 96A amends the permission you already hold rather than creating a new one. Here is how councils judge materiality and what happens if they refuse.
Historic building recording levels and who does them
A recording condition names a level from 1 to 4. Here is what each level requires, who sets it, when it can be negotiated and how the archive gets deposited.
Neighbourhood plan or supplementary document: which wins
Section 38(6) treats a made neighbourhood plan as development plan policy and a supplementary document as one consideration among many. Here is how that plays out.
Reports for a small industrial unit beside housing
Siting a workshop or small industrial unit next to homes puts the mitigation burden on the operator. Here is the evidence base and the conditions to expect.
Evidence for protected characteristics in an EqIA
The duty under section 149 belongs to the council, and the assessment exists to evidence it. Here is how to screen characteristics, source baseline data and secure mitigation.
Section 73 application: what it means in planning
Section 73 does not amend a permission. It creates a second one, which is why obligations, levy liability and discharged conditions all need checking again.
Which existing uses qualify for a Class MA conversion
The qualifying use condition decides most Class MA applications. Here is what counts as Class E, what never did, and how to prove two continuous years of it.
The section 278 process and its effect on programme
Section 278 delays are rarely about construction. They are about design cycles, legal drafting and utility lead times that could have run alongside the application.
Agricultural buildings on holdings of 5 hectares or more
Class A of Part 6 allows agricultural buildings without planning permission inside strict limits. Here is what qualifies, what the numbers are and how notification works.
Choosing an arboriculturist for a BS 5837 tree survey
A BS 5837 survey is about whether your scheme can be built without damaging retained roots. Here is how to choose the consultant and check what they produce.
Judicial review or a statutory challenge to a decision
Who made the decision determines which challenge you bring. Both run to a six week limit, both test legality rather than planning merits, and both carry costs risk.
Reports for holiday lets in redundant farm buildings
Class Q delivers houses, not holiday accommodation. Here is the evidence base a full application for converting redundant farm buildings actually needs.
Environmental zones and obtrusive light limits explained
Sky glow, light intrusion and luminaire intensity limits all follow from the environmental zone. Here is how the zone is justified and what the assessment must show.
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