PlanScope Blog – Page 32
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 32
9589 articlesPlanning committee cycles and the report deadline
Section 100B requires committee reports to be public five clear days before the meeting. The officer's own deadline falls weeks earlier, and that is the one that matters.
Fire service water supply on a rural site with no hydrant
Where no hydrant is within reach, a tank, pond or watercourse becomes the fire service supply. The hardstanding, suction geometry and upkeep all belong on the planning drawings.
Energy centre siting, noise and flue emissions
Energy centre applications fail on the flue route, proximity to habitable rooms and plant replacement access. A checklist for the siting and environmental case.
Salvage and reuse conditions on heritage consents
Salvage conditions rest on section 17 of the 1990 Act, which allows control of features after severance. Most breaches happen in storage, not by intent.
Public art contributions and the statutory tests
Percent for art requests often fail the necessity limb of regulation 122. Ask what makes the development unacceptable without the art, then offer on-site delivery.
Shopfront security shutters and what councils will accept
External shutters need planning permission and solid ones are usually refused. Open grilles, internal shutters and laminated glazing are the approvable routes.
How much weight pre-application advice actually carries
Pre-application advice tells you what the officer currently thinks and nothing more. Used properly it removes validation and policy risk, but it settles nothing.
Local plan examinations and when to make representations
Only a timely representation at the regulation 19 publication stage carries the statutory right to be heard by the examining inspector. Everything after that depends on discretion.
Balcony design where combustible materials are restricted
On relevant buildings a balcony is a specified attachment, so decking, soffit and balustrade must reach A2-s1,d0. The depth, drainage and amenity consequences land on the planning drawings.
Heat pumps in flats: planning, noise and shared services
A heat pump in a block has to clear Class G limits, a noise assessment to habitable rooms in the same building, and a licence to alter from the freeholder.
Severance, desire lines and pedestrian route quality
Severance is assessed by where people want to walk, how long they wait and what the route feels like. Desire line plans and segment audits carry more weight than footway counts.
Rebuilding a listed building after fire damage
After a fire, the record of what survived decides what you can rebuild. Emergency works are defensible only within section 9(3) limits, and demolition without consent is an offence.
Town centre impact tests for leisure and office uses
Out of centre offices face the sequential test alone. Retail and leisure face the impact test as well, which means trade diversion and investment evidence.
Installing an ATM through a shopfront
A through the wall ATM is two consents: planning permission for the opening and surround, and advertisement consent for the illuminated branding. Footway width and light spill decide most cases.
Keeping a permission alive as the three year limit nears
Section 91 gives most permissions three years to begin. The start has to be a material operation and every pre-commencement condition has to be cleared first.
Fences, gates and electric gates on a boundary
Front gates above a metre usually need permission, piers and trellis count towards the height, and the automation brings machinery safety duties of its own.
The CIL index update and the charge on your permission
The figure on a CIL liability notice rarely matches the printed rate. How indexation, in-use deductions and gross internal area produce the number, and how to check it.
Firefighting shafts and the floorplate they consume
The shaft is a package, not a stair: firefighting stair, lobby at every level, lift and smoke shaft. On a small floorplate the area it removes can decide viability.
Renewable energy on a commercial roof: planning and grid
Rooftop solar on a commercial building runs into a 0.2 metre projection limit, roof wind uplift, aerodrome safeguarding and an export connection that may need limiting.
School travel and safe routes for a new primary school
School transport evidence turns on a short arrival peak and the quality of walking routes, not on daily trip totals. What to model, what to audit and what to offer.
Listed interiors: shops, pubs and public buildings
Bar backs, snob screens and fitted counters are part of the listed building. What the protection covers, which layout changes get consent, and how to evidence each intervention.
Apportioning obligations across a mixed use scheme
Without apportionment every parcel of a mixed use site carries every obligation. How to map obligations to uses, separate the triggers and draft releases a lender will accept.
Putting plant on the flat roof of a leased commercial unit
Condenser units on a retail or restaurant roof are not permitted development. What the application needs, how BS 4142 is applied, and why the lease runs in parallel.
Ammonia assessment for farm development in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland assesses new livestock housing against ammonia critical levels and nitrogen critical loads at designated sites, often with a background already in exceedance.
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