PlanScope Blog – Page 296
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 296
9015 articlesDaylight evidence in a neighbour objection: what carries weight
Loss of light is material, loss of a view is not. If a daylight assessment has been submitted, the useful objection interrogates the report rather than repeating the complaint.
Securing energy performance after construction by condition
A condition requiring Part L compliance is unenforceable in planning terms. One tied to the improvement the energy statement promised is not. The difference decides whether it can be discharged.
The Welsh language as a material planning consideration
Section 31 of the Planning (Wales) Act 2015 made the Welsh language a material consideration in Welsh planning decisions. Here is when an assessment is needed and what it must cover.
Checking an off-site unit on the biodiversity gain sites register
The register records the land, the habitat values, the securing mechanism and every allocation already made. Reading it properly is the due diligence most off-site unit buyers skip.
Viability evidence and what changes as scheme size grows
A policy compliant scheme needs no viability assessment. Everything after that depends on scale: abnormals, benchmark land value, review mechanisms and who pays for the audit.
Which reports a single storey rear extension needs
A single storey rear extension needs drawings, a location plan, an ownership certificate and the fee. The local validation list decides everything else.
Basements and the Party Wall etc. Act alongside planning
Planning permission does not let you start digging. The Party Wall etc. Act runs separately, with its own notices, timescales and costs for a basement project.
Sunlight to a school playground or nursery outdoor space
Playgrounds are assessed with the same BRE test as gardens, but read differently. Use patterns, term time hours and summer shade all belong in the assessment.
Defending the assumptions inside an energy statement
Reviewers go straight to four assumptions in any energy statement. Here is what they check, why the numbers slip and how sensitivity testing settles the argument early.
Developments of National Significance in Wales explained
Defined categories of scheme in Wales are decided by Welsh Ministers rather than the council, with secondary consents handled in the same process. Here is how it runs.
What the statutory biodiversity metric needs before you start
The metric is only as good as the baseline survey behind it. Here are the inputs it needs, the timing that governs them and the errors that fail a review.
Class MA floorspace limits and the conversion threshold
Class MA lost its floorspace cap and vacancy requirement in March 2024. The two-year continuous use test and the prior approval matters are what decide applications now.
Editing a draft to match a local validation checklist
Most validation failures are administrative. Here is how to map documents to a specific authority's local list, name the files correctly and justify what you leave out.
Deeds of variation on a section 73 permission
The original deed often binds only the permission named in it. Here is how to check, which instrument to use, who has to be a party and when it must complete.
Ground movement assessment for a basement, explained
The ground movement section decides a basement application. Here is what the engineer models, how damage categories are assigned and what a monitoring regime should say.
Privacy and overlooking: justifying separation distances
Separation distances come from council design guides, not from national policy. What matters is whether the privacy relationship is acceptable, and how you evidence it.
Water efficiency standards and how planning secures them
The optional technical standard only applies where local policy justifies it. Here is how the fittings calculation works and how compliance is actually verified.
Pre-application consultation for major development in Wales
Statutory pre-application consultation is compulsory for major development in Wales, and the report forms part of a valid application. Here is how to run it properly.
How to check a tree preservation order before you buy
A protected tree changes what you can build and what you can do in the garden. Here is how to establish whether a specific tree is protected, before you commit.
Water and sewerage capacity objections as schemes get larger
Capacity objections rarely refuse a scheme. They turn into occupation conditions and two-year delays, and the time to deal with them is before the layout is fixed.
Site information a postcode cannot tell you
Designation layers load from a postcode. Levels, ground conditions, title, previous extensions and neighbouring window positions do not, and applications turn on them.
Modifying a section 106 obligation after five years
After five years an owner can apply to modify or discharge a planning obligation without the council's agreement. The test is narrow, and viability is not part of it.
Basement impact assessment: the standard four stage structure
Boroughs that require a basement impact assessment expect the same four stage structure. Here is what belongs in each stage and where audits usually stall.
Wind tunnel testing or computational modelling for a scheme
Both methods report pedestrian wind conditions against the Lawson criteria. Which one an authority will accept depends on height, exposure and what it has asked for in writing.
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