PlanScope Blog – Page 27
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 27
9599 articlesTransport Assessment or Travel Plan: different jobs
One predicts the traffic a development will generate. The other commits its occupiers to reducing it. How Transport Assessments and Travel Plans differ, and when a scheme needs both.
Appealing a refusal of reserved matters approval
A reserved matters refusal is appealed under section 78, but the dispute is confined to the matters reserved and the conditions on the outline permission. Here is how to run it.
TRICS parameters and trip rate selection
Every TRICS filter moves the trip rate. A practitioner's guide to choosing the land use category, setting the filters and writing a selection the highway authority can rebuild.
A self-build plot in flood zone 2: the application route
A house is more vulnerable development, appropriate in Flood Zone 2 without the Exception Test. What the sequential test, levels and access evidence looked like.
Whole life carbon or circular economy: two different asks
A whole life carbon assessment produces numbers and a circular economy statement produces commitments. How they overlap and where reviewers find contradictions.
Rebuttal evidence and when an inspector will accept it
Inspectors admit rebuttals that answer unforeseeable points and disregard material that expands the issues. How the timetable works and why statements of case matter.
Lawson wind comfort criteria and how to read the results
Comfort categories match wind conditions to activities, while a separate safety threshold deals with rare high speeds. How to review a wind microclimate assessment.
Section 73B: the new power to vary a planning permission
The 2023 Act inserted a power to vary a permission, including its description, where the effect is not substantially different. How to choose between the routes.
Domestic wind turbines and the permitted development limits
Part 14 permits one standalone turbine per curtilage, up to 11.1 metres, set back by its own height plus ten per cent. Why the separation rule defeats most plots.
Reading the limitations page of a consultant's report
A conclusion is only as good as the scope behind it. How to read exclusions, data currency and reliance wording before a report goes into a planning submission.
Gas meters, risers and fire separation on the elevations
Approved Document B keeps gas out of the protected escape stair, so the meters land on your elevation. How to position, ventilate and detail them for planning.
A listed pub converted to two flats and a shop
Two cases run in parallel on a pub conversion: the loss of a community facility and the alteration of listed fabric. How both were answered on an illustrative scheme.
Building recording or watching brief: which applies
A recording condition has a fixed scope and a known fee. A watching brief carries a stop-work trigger. How the two differ and when a scheme attracts both.
Appealing a condition attached to a prior approval
Paragraph W only allows conditions reasonably related to the subject matter of the prior approval. How to challenge one, and when compliance is the better route.
Planning injunctions under section 187B explained
A planning injunction is enforced by contempt of court, which makes it the sharpest power a council has. How section 187B works and what the court actually decides.
Nutrient neutrality: the habitats duty behind the constraint
The nutrient neutrality requirement rests on regulation 63 of the Habitats Regulations 2017. What that means for budgets, mitigation, timescales and refusal risk.
Outbuilding height limits within 2 metres of a boundary
The 2.5 metre limit near a boundary, the 2.5 metre eaves limit everywhere, and measurement from the highest adjacent ground. What Class E allows for a garden building.
Who can write a drainage strategy a council will accept
Nobody licenses drainage strategy authors, so the test is competence and evidence. What the lead local flood authority checks and how to scope the appointment.
Firefighting access into courtyard and perimeter blocks
A perimeter block with one arched entry rarely works for firefighting access. How the distances are measured, what gates need, and the alternatives when access fails.
Solar on farm buildings: permitted development limits
Roof and ground mounted renewables on an agricultural unit fall under Part 14, while Part 6 covers agricultural buildings. How the purpose test decides which applies.
A padel court at a cricket club: the planning route
Two floodlit padel courts on a cricket outfield, followed from siting decision to decision notice. Noise, lighting, parking and the Sport England consultation.
When intensifying a use needs planning permission
Longer hours, more covers, earlier deliveries. When does busier become a material change of use under section 55, and what evidence does the council want?
Lawful development certificate or listed building certificate
A lawful development certificate answers a planning question. A section 26H certificate answers a listed building question. The difference, the evidence and the fees.
Refusal or withdrawal: which serves the application better
The case officer offers you the chance to withdraw before refusal. What you gain and lose either way, from section 78 appeal rights to the fee-free second attempt.
Not sure which documents your council will ask for?
Enter your postcode and PlanScope recommends the right reports for your project, then drafts them in minutes.
Enter your postcode on PlanScope