PlanScope Blog – Page 300
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 300
8981 articlesChecking policy citations before you submit a draft
A wrong policy number does not invalidate an application, but it tells the officer nobody checked. Here is a repeatable routine for verifying every citation before submission.
Section 61 consents and section 60 notices explained
Section 60 lets a council dictate how your works are carried out. Section 61 lets the contractor agree the method first. Here is what to submit and how it sits with planning conditions.
Designing a layout around an ancient woodland buffer
The standing advice recommends at least 15 metres between development and ancient woodland. Here is how to measure it, what the buffer can contain and how to keep it intact.
Overage clauses and how they interact with planning
Overage hangs on a planning event, and the definition matters more than the percentage. Here is how triggers, section 73 consents, deductions and security work in practice.
Hedgerow removal notices under the 1997 Regulations
Removing a farm hedge needs a notice, not an application. Here is the 42 day procedure, the importance criteria, the exemptions and what happens if you get it wrong.
Trash screens, headwalls and maintenance access
A trash screen moves blockage risk from inside the culvert to the inlet. Here is how to choose a screen, detail a headwall, model blockage and secure clearance access.
Launderette planning permission: use class, extract, noise
A launderette sits in Class E, so the change of use rarely needs permission. The extract duct, plant noise, solvent permitting and shopfront grille are where the work is.
What a to be confirmed flag in a draft report means
A to be confirmed flag marks a site specific fact that cannot be inferred from a postcode. Here is what each category of gap needs, and how to check none survive to submission.
Construction noise assessment under BS 5228
The ABC method in BS 5228-1 sets a noise threshold from the existing ambient level at each receptor. Here is how prediction, vibration, mitigation and monitoring fit together.
Evidencing canopy cover targets in a local plan area
Canopy cover policies are won or lost on the assumptions behind the percentage. Here is how to set the horizon, justify crown spreads, count retained trees and show the soil volume.
How a CIL charging schedule is set and examined
A charging schedule examination asks one question: has the authority struck an appropriate balance between funding infrastructure and development viability. Here is how the process works and where rates can be challenged.
Hazel dormouse surveys: nest tubes, nut searches, licences
A defensible dormouse survey needs an index of probability score of 20 or more, which takes most of the season. Here is the effort, the licensing position and what reviewers should check.
Compensatory flood storage and level for level design
Floodplain compensation has to be level for level, volume for volume and hydraulically connected. Here is how the accounting works and what the Environment Agency checks.
Bakery planning permission: use class, odour and hours
A bakery that sells over the counter is usually Class E(a), but baking on site brings odour, plant noise and delivery hours into play. Here is what to submit and what to negotiate.
Discharging planning conditions: the submission checklist
An application to approve details reserved by condition has its own form, fee and clock. Here is how to identify which conditions bite, what evidence each needs, and when the deemed discharge route helps.
What a consultee checks in a drainage model output
Drainage model outputs are reviewed quickly and rejected for predictable reasons. Here is what a consultee reads first, the checks to run before submission, and how to present results so they can be followed.
A tattoo studio, piercing or aesthetics clinic
Beauty and aesthetics premises usually sit in Class E, but tattooing and piercing are treated as sui generis by some councils. Registration, sharps waste, shopfront privacy and hours are where these applications turn.
Article 4 directions: finding the ones covering your street
Only the direction document tells you reliably which permitted development rights have been removed. How to find it, how to read it, and what to do when the dataset, the council map and the search disagree.
Discharging a plant noise condition first time
Plant noise conditions fail at discharge because the submission cannot be checked. Here is what to put in the pack, how to specify attenuation that exists, and what to do when the installed plant does not meet the limit.
Street trees, highway works and the section 278 process
A street tree in the adopted highway is the highway authority's, and planning permission gives no right to touch it. Consent, replacement policies, tree pit design and how the arrangements are secured in a section 278 agreement.
Open space and play space contributions: the arithmetic
Open space contributions are arithmetic. Standards, occupancy assumptions, child yield and maintenance periods each carry an assumption you can check, and on a medium scheme the checking is worth a five-figure sum.
Barn owls in agricultural buildings and what to provide
A barn owl roost is the most common reason a barn conversion stalls after prior approval. The Schedule 1 disturbance offence, the survey evidence, the timing question and how replacement provision is designed and conditioned.
Estate road drainage and the section 38 adoption process
Highway drainage on a new estate is adopted under section 38 of the Highways Act 1980, not by the water company. What the authority takes, what it refuses, and how to close the gaps before they stall adoption.
A trade counter on an industrial estate
Trade counters sit at the boundary between Class B8 storage and Class E retail. Here is how the ancillary test works in practice, how councils condition floorspace, and what triggers a sequential test or impact assessment.
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