PlanScope Blog – Page 271
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 271
9122 articlesEnergy and carbon evidence as a residential scheme scales
On one house the carbon case is a SAP calculation. At major development it becomes an Energy Statement, and in some places whole life carbon and TM59 modelling too.
Dormer proportion and set-backs that get approved
The cubic allowance tells you what you can build without permission. Proportion, set-backs and width decide whether a dormer is approved when an application is needed.
Judicial review of a planning permission: the six week rule
A planning judicial review must be filed within six weeks and tests lawfulness rather than merits. What succeeds, what fails, and how the costs caps work.
Firefighting shafts and what they take from the floor plate
Once a floor sits more than 18 metres above fire service access, the core gains a lobby, a lift and a smoke shaft with minimum dimensions that do not compress.
Daylight targets for schools and nurseries
Classrooms are assessed on task illuminance and glare control, while BRE 209 governs neighbours and outdoor play space. Bringing the wrong metric costs a round of comments.
Evidencing the loss of a shop under a Class E change
A change within Class E is not development, so frontage policy cannot stop it. The cases where permission is still needed, and the evidence that carries them.
The section 6 biodiversity duty in Welsh planning decisions
The section 6 duty falls on the authority, not the applicant. Writing the ecology chapter around the resilience attributes makes the officer's job, and your case, easier.
Co-working space in a former office building
Co-working is office use, so the change within Class E is not development. The application risk sits in old conditions, public-facing bars, terraces and plant.
Statutory consultees that appear as a scheme grows
Statutory consultees arrive for three reasons: where the site is, how large the scheme is, and what it does. Only the second set moves as the unit count rises.
Wraparound extensions and the permitted development trap
A wraparound is one enlarged part extending beyond two walls, so the side extension limits apply to the whole of it. The half-width condition is what removes the right.
Ward councillor call-in: how to ask, and by when
A call-in changes who decides an application, not the policy test. The deadline is usually tied to the 21 day consultation, and the reasons have to be planning reasons.
Sprinklers in blocks of flats and the 11 metre trigger
Suppression in new blocks of flats is triggered at 11 metres in England. The 18 metre figure is the higher-risk building threshold, and the two are often confused.
Overshadowing of solar panels and what planning protects
No right to light attaches to a solar array. Loss of sunlight can still be material in planning, and the weight it carries depends on evidence and local policy.
Independence and conflicts of interest in planning evidence
Expert evidence is the author's own opinion and the duty runs to the decision maker, not the client. The conflicts that recur, and how to declare them in time.
Modifying or discharging a section 106 obligation
A deed of variation works at any time if the authority agrees. The statutory route under section 106A opens after five years and carries a right of appeal.
Temporary road closures and street works during construction
A temporary road closure is a highways consent, not a planning one, and a full closure can take three months to advertise. Here is the consent map and the lead times.
Green infrastructure statements in Wales: what to include
A Welsh green infrastructure statement is not a net gain calculation. It shows the step-wise approach, names multifunctional benefits and sets out how they will be managed.
Soft play centres: use class, parking, noise and conditions
A soft play centre is Class E(d) indoor recreation, so a former shop or gym needs no application. From a warehouse it does, and parking and noise decide it.
Phasing a scheme without triggering a higher threshold
Splitting a scheme into phases rarely avoids an obligation, because connected phases are assessed cumulatively. Where phasing does help is CIL timing and section 106 triggers.
Barn conversion bat survey: the sequence and the seasons
A barn conversion bat survey runs from a daytime roost assessment to a Natural England licence. The season sets the programme, and missing it costs a year.
Two storey rear extensions and the neighbour amenity tests
Permitted development limits rarely decide a two storey rear extension. Separation distance, overbearing effect and loss of outlook do, and each one is argued differently.
Mobile homes and caravans on agricultural land
A caravan on wheels is still development when the use of the land changes. What the exemptions cover, how temporary permissions work and what conditions require.
Downloading the biodiversity metric and version control
The statutory biodiversity metric is a spreadsheet whose version changes the arithmetic. Where to get it, how to record the version and what officers check.
Subservience in side extension design and why it matters
Side extensions are refused on subservience more than on anything else. The ridge set down, the front set back, roof form and where the principle is relaxed.
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