PlanScope Blog – Page 294
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 294
9032 articlesWhich reports holiday lodges on a farm need
Holiday lodge applications on farms turn on landscape effects, foul drainage and access rather than on the business plan. Here is the evidence each of those requires.
Planning permission for a self-build on a serviced plot
A serviced plot usually comes with permission, a design code and a list of conditions. The planning work is reserved matters and discharge, and the levy paperwork has to come before any start on site.
Which reports a warehouse extension over 1,000 m2 needs
At 1,000 square metres of new floorspace an industrial extension becomes major development, with a 13 week period and the flood authority as a consultee. Transport and drainage decide most of these applications.
The biodiversity gain condition in Schedule 7A explained
The biodiversity gain condition is deemed onto permissions rather than written on the decision notice. It is a pre commencement condition, and programming for it is the real problem.
Why a planning draft should never predict a decision
The weight given to material considerations is for the decision maker, so no document can forecast a result. What a good one does instead is remove reasons to refuse.
Who signs the statutory biodiversity metric
No qualification is named for completing the statutory biodiversity metric. The authority judges competence from the outputs, so the habitat survey and condition assessment have to show it.
Economic impact assessments and how councils use them
An economic impact assessment only carries weight where the figures are net. Additionality, displacement and leakage adjustments decide whether an officer can rely on the conclusion.
Structural risk in a change of use application
Prior approval and planning permission say nothing about whether the frame can take the conversion. The structural questions decide unit count and headroom, so they belong at feasibility stage.
NPF4 as part of the development plan in Scotland
National Planning Framework 4 is part of the statutory development plan in Scotland rather than a material consideration, so compliance with national policy is a plan question under section 25.
Using geological mapping before a ground investigation
Published geological mapping and borehole records narrow the ground questions on a small site before anyone hires a rig. They cannot answer them, and knowing the difference saves money.
Planning fees and their thresholds on a growing scheme
Planning fees change by unit count, site area and application type, and they are indexed annually. Here is the structure to budget from, and the charges that arrive after permission.
Permission for a pair of semi-detached infill houses
A two unit frontage infill is a minor application with modest technical requirements and tight design constraints. Frontage width, building line and separation distances decide it.
Which reports a house to HMO conversion needs
Whether a C3 to C4 HMO conversion needs any application at all depends on the Article 4 position. Where it does, the parking stress survey is usually the document that decides it.
Completion notices and unfinished planning permissions
An implemented planning permission never expires, so a part built scheme can sit indefinitely. A completion notice is how an authority ends it, and the 2023 Act made the power easier to use.
What GPS data in a site photograph adds
A site photo's GPS coordinates identify the property and place the camera, and they cannot define your red line or record a viewpoint properly. Here is what each job needs.
Bat survey licences and what each level allows
A bat surveyor's licence sets the limit of what they may lawfully do on site. Here is what each tier permits, how class licences work, and the checks to make before you instruct.
Town centre health checks and what they have to show
The impact test asks about effects on a centre's vitality and viability, so the health check is the measuring instrument. Indicators, dates and methodology decide how much weight its conclusion carries.
Retaining existing structure rather than demolishing
Where a council applies a retrofit first expectation, the application turns on an options appraisal comparing retention and demolition on the same basis. The structural testing has to come first.
Planning appeals in Wales: routes and timescales
Welsh planning appeals are front loaded. The appellant's full case goes in with the appeal and PEDW decides the procedure, so the evidence has to be complete before you lodge.
Finding the local plan policies that apply to your site
Section 38(6) makes the development plan the starting point for every decision, so the first job on any site is assembling it accurately. Here is the order to work in and what weight each document carries.
Major development in a National Landscape
There is no unit threshold for major development inside a National Landscape or National Park. The decision maker judges nature, scale and setting, then applies a presumption against permission unless exceptional circumstances are shown.
Converting a shop with a flat above into two flats
Whether a shop with a flat over can become two flats turns on Class MA prior approval versus the council's frontage protection policy. The route you take decides what the council can refuse on.
Which reports an office to flats conversion needs
A full planning application to convert offices to flats needs internal daylight, noise and contamination evidence that the Class MA prior approval route never reaches. Here is the document list and the order to commission it in.
Regenerating a section without breaking the document
A regenerated section reads well on its own and can quietly contradict three other parts of the document. The checks that catch it are mechanical and take under an hour.
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