PlanScope Blog – Page 311
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 311
8890 articlesNutrient neutrality catchments and what a scheme must show
In affected catchments a council cannot grant permission until an appropriate assessment rules out harm to a protected site. Here is how the nutrient budget works, which mitigation routes exist and how they must be secured.
Class AA of Part 1: adding storeys to a detached house
Class AA of Schedule 2 Part 1 of the GPDO 2015 permits up to two additional storeys on a house, subject to prior approval. Here are the exclusions, the height limits, the matters a council can refuse on and the evidence required.
Infiltration testing to BRE 365 and reading the result
A BRE Digest 365 infiltration test needs a trial pit at the soakaway location, dug to full depth, filled three times. Here is how the rate is calculated, why the slowest cycle governs, and what to present in a drainage strategy.
Daylight and sunlight conditions and how to discharge them
Daylight and sunlight conditions usually fix glazing transmittance and surface reflectance, then require verification before occupation. Here is how to rebuild the model with as-built inputs and what a discharge application should contain.
Livestock buildings and odour assessment near dwellings
Agricultural permitted development is withdrawn for livestock buildings within 400 metres of a dwelling, so a full application and an odour case are needed. Here is what councils expect on odour, ammonia deposition, mitigation and conditions.
Finding nutrient neutrality catchment boundaries
Nutrient neutrality catchments are published by Natural England and cover far more land than the protected sites themselves. Here is how to check a site, find the right calculator, and understand who carries out the habitats regulations assessment.
Outline permission or full planning permission
Outline permission establishes the principle of development and defers reserved matters; full permission approves a specific scheme ready to build. Here is how the statutory time limits, evidence requirements and costs differ.
When national policy changes during your appeal
An inspector applies the policy in force when the decision is issued, so a new NPPF edition or a newly adopted local plan can change an appeal after the statement of case is lodged. Here is the procedure and what to put in an addendum.
Temporary permissions and what happens when they expire
Temporary planning permissions are granted under section 72 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 with a condition requiring the use to cease. Here is how those conditions work, how to extend or make a permission permanent, and what enforcement follows if the date passes.
Rating level: how a BS 4142 figure is built up
The rating level in a BS 4142 noise assessment is the specific sound level plus a correction for tonality, impulsivity or intermittency, compared against the background LA90. Here is how each part is measured and where assessments go wrong.
Using LIDAR terrain data for a levels and drainage check
Open terrain data answers the levels question at desk-study stage. Used properly it tells you where water goes across a site, and it never replaces a measured survey.
Refused on drainage: proving a surface water strategy
Lead local flood authority objections carry weight because inspectors trust them. The way past one is evidence at each step of the hierarchy, not a promise to sort it out later.
Planning contravention notices and how to answer one
A planning contravention notice is an information gathering tool with criminal sanctions attached. Answer it, answer it on time, and answer only what it asks.
Rear extensions on a corner plot and the side boundary
A side wall that faces a road is treated like a front. That single rule removes several householder permitted development rights on corner plots and catches owners out repeatedly.
Curtilage: what it covers and how it is decided
Curtilage decides how much you can build without applying and what listed building consent catches. It is a question of fact, settled on layout, ownership and function.
Coal referral areas and the coal mining risk assessment
A site in a coalfield high risk area attracts a statutory consultee and a report requirement. Doing the desk study early is the difference between a condition and a refusal.
Nutrient neutrality: where the legal duty actually sits
The requirement is not a policy the council chose. It flows from regulation 63 of the Habitats Regulations, and that is why it cannot be traded away in the planning balance.
Choosing the right climate change allowance epoch
Most climate change allowance errors are selection errors rather than modelling errors. Getting the epoch, the catchment and the category right first time avoids a rerun.
Daylight in listed buildings and conservation areas
Better daylight usually means bigger or new openings, and that is exactly what listed building consent is designed to control. The way through is a significance argument, not a lux level.
Caravan sites on farms: licences and the planning overlap
Site licensing and planning permission are separate consents with separate exemptions. A farm diversification that satisfies one and not the other is still unlawful.
Finding the Historic Environment Record for your site
Every archaeological desk-based assessment starts with a records search. Knowing who holds the record, what to ask for and how long it takes keeps the study off the critical path.
Why the Planning Inspectorate returns appeals as invalid
An appeal that arrives incomplete is not started. With a twelve week householder deadline and no power to extend it, a return can end the appeal entirely.
Crown development and how it gets determined
Prisons, barracks and government offices go through the planning system like anything else, with a handful of special routes for urgency and national security.
Removing a front boundary wall to widen your access
Demolishing a front boundary wall is usually permitted, until the house is in a conservation area or the wall belongs to a listed building. The dropped kerb is a separate consent again.
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