PlanScope Blog – Page 286
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 286
9088 articlesThe threshold approach to affordable housing and fast track
Meet the threshold level of affordable housing on the right tenure split and a London scheme avoids a viability assessment altogether. Miss it and the whole scheme is opened up to scrutiny, with review mechanisms attached.
Grade I and Grade II listings: what changes
Grade does not alter the scope of listing. It alters the consultation the council must carry out, the policy test applied to harm and the standard of evidence and competence expected from the design team.
Reporting archaeological discoveries during works
England has no general duty to stop work for archaeology. The obligations come from your planning condition, the Treasure Act and burial law, and each has a different trigger and a different timescale.
Temporal risk and time to target condition in the metric
Created habitat is worth less in the metric the longer it takes to reach target condition. Understanding the temporal discount changes which habitats you create, when you create them and how much land the scheme needs.
A tree survey is not an ecology survey
Both documents talk about trees, and councils ask for both. One protects trees from construction, the other protects wildlife from you. Knowing which answers which question stops a scheme stalling at validation.
What makes a landscape and ecological management plan work
Landscape and ecological management plans are secured by condition and judged on whether anyone could enforce them. Measurable prescriptions, monitoring triggers and a named obligation holder are what separate a plan that works from one that is refused.
A pre-application submission checklist for a minor scheme
Pre-application advice is only as good as the pack you send. Here is the drawing set, site information and question list that turns a minor scheme enquiry into a usable written response.
An outline for an appeal statement of case
A written representations appeal is decided on what you file at the start. This is the structure that answers each reason for refusal, handles policy weight and keeps a costs application open.
Garage conversions and the loss of a parking space
Converting a garage is usually permitted development. The council's parking standard, any Article 4 direction and the bedroom count decide whether that holds, and what evidence answers a highways objection.
Materials of similar appearance in permitted development
The materials condition in Class A asks for similar appearance, not a perfect match. Where that line falls decides whether a rendered or clad extension is permitted development or a planning application.
Hip to gable conversions and the roof volume budget
Class B gives a house 40 or 50 cubic metres of extra roof space. A hip to gable takes a share of that before the rear dormer is drawn, and the arithmetic decides whether the conversion is permitted development or a planning application.
Scoping a preliminary ecological appraisal properly
A good appraisal names the habitats, the species surveys triggered and the window each one falls in. Here is how to scope and commission it so it protects the programme.
Urban Greening Factor: how the score is calculated
The Urban Greening Factor weights each surface type by function and divides the total by site area. Here is the method, the targets and what officers check.
An evidence checklist for a lawful development certificate
The applicant carries the burden on the balance of probabilities. Here is the evidence that works, how to build the chronology, and the gaps that cause refusal.
Side extension width and the half the original house rule
The half-width rule compares your extension with the house as first built, not as it stands. Here is how to establish the baseline, the height limits and what to submit.
Planning permission for a vehicle repair garage or MOT centre
Vehicle repair is normally Class B2, outside Class E, so the change of use needs permission. The decisive issues are noise, extraction, vehicle storage and waste oil.
National Parks and the statutory purposes test
In a National Park, conservation outweighs public enjoyment where the two conflict, and major development starts from refusal. Here is what an application has to show.
Shopfronts in conservation areas: what officers assess
Shopfront applications turn on whether the historic frame survives, where the fascia sits, how the sign is lit and what happens at night. Advertisement consent runs separately.
Breeding birds and vegetation clearance timing
Damaging an active nest is an offence for every wild bird species. Here is how the March to August constraint works in practice, and how to plan clearance around it.
A checklist for a section 73 variation application
Section 73 varies conditions and creates a new permission alongside the original. Here is the wording, the documents, the consultation scope and the CIL consequences.
Planning permission for a gym in an industrial unit
Class B2 and B8 sit outside Class E, so a gym conversion needs permission. The decisive issues are employment land policy and impact noise from dropped weights.
Ramsar sites and how planning treats them
A Ramsar site is protected as a matter of national policy rather than by the Habitats Regulations directly. Here is how that changes screening, and the features reports keep missing.
Heritage at risk and optimum viable use
For a building at risk, the optimum viable use is the one causing least harm to significance. Here is how to rank uses, evidence marketing and calculate a conservation deficit.
Barn owls and development: survey and mitigation
Barn owls have no reliable closed season, so a barn conversion needs inspection before strip-out. Here is the protection, the survey evidence and the mitigation that works.
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