PlanScope Blog – Page 325
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 325
8770 articlesCarbon offset payments and how councils calculate them
Residual regulated emissions multiplied by an assumed period and a locally set price per tonne. Only the first of those three numbers is within a developer's control.
Noise from outdoor sports pitches and padel courts
Recreational sound sits outside the scope of BS 4142. Padel and pitch noise cases are won on event levels, character, hours and a management plan, not on rating levels.
Ecclesiastical exemption and listed building consent
Ecclesiastical exemption removes listed building consent for works to churches of five denominations in England. It does not remove the need for planning permission.
Water and sewerage consultation thresholds
Four independent triggers govern water and drainage consultation. Scheme size drives only one of them, and a nutrient neutrality catchment can catch a single dwelling.
The Future Homes Standard and the Part L uplift
The 2022 Part L uplift was an interim step towards the Future Homes Standard. Several of the measures needed to meet it are planning matters and belong on the submitted drawings.
The 18 metre and seven storey higher-risk threshold
Height and storeys are alternative limbs, not cumulative. Measurement runs to the top storey floor surface from the lowest adjacent ground level, and mezzanines can count.
Separation distances and overlooking in local policy
There is no national separation distance. The 21 metre rule sits in local design guides of varying weight, and a reduced distance has to be argued on geometry rather than assertion.
Energy statements for change of use and conversions
Local plan carbon targets are written for new build. On a conversion, the Building Regulations obligations, feasible fabric measures and the overheating case are what matter.
Lighting curfews and how councils word the condition
A blanket switch-off condition is usually unenforceable or unreasonable. Four short conditions covering approval, implementation, operating hours and retention work better.
World Heritage Site buffer zones and visual impact
A World Heritage Site is not a statutory designation in England and a buffer zone is not a control boundary. The assessment turns on attributes of Outstanding Universal Value and agreed views.
Self-build exemptions across CIL and biodiversity net gain
The levy exemption turns on occupation and is claimed before work starts. The biodiversity exemption turns on scheme size and is claimed on the application. Different tests, different clocks.
Section 73B: the minor variation route explained
Section 73B allows a varied planning permission, including a changed description of development, where the effect is not substantially different. Check that it is in force before relying on it.
What a fire statement must contain under Article 9A
The Article 9A fire statement answers the published form's questions about site layout, appliance access, water supplies and evacuation principles, not building regulations detail.
Assessing daylight where the existing room already fails
The 0.8 relative test in BRE 209 punishes rooms that are already dark. Reporting absolute retained values, room use and a justified alternative target is what makes the assessment usable.
Solar panels on listed buildings and conservation areas
Panels on a listed building always need listed building consent. On an unlisted house in a conservation area roof panels are usually permitted development, but walls fronting a highway are not.
Sky glow, light spill and source intensity explained
Obtrusive light is judged as sky glow, light intrusion at windows and source intensity towards receptors. Naming the right parameter and environmental zone is what wins a condition.
Archaeology and biodiversity net gain on the same site
Trial trenching strips the habitat that the biodiversity metric is about to measure. Survey order, habitat placement over deposits and parallel pre-start conditions decide whether both regimes can be satisfied.
Permission in principle and the small site limit
Permission in principle by application covers housing-led schemes of fewer than ten dwellings on under a hectare, and fixes only use, location and amount of development.
Deemed discharge of conditions and its excluded categories
Deemed discharge treats a condition as discharged when the council fails to determine the application. Schedule 6 to the DMPO 2015 lists where the power does not apply.
Planning Gateway One: which buildings are caught
Gateway One catches buildings with two or more dwellings or educational accommodation that reach 18 metres or seven storeys. Both limbs must be satisfied, and measurement decides marginal cases.
Daylight in new flats and the target illuminance approach
Daylight in new flats is assessed against target illuminance sustained over the year, not average daylight factor. Balconies, not glazing area, cause most of the failures.
BREEAM pre-assessment at planning: which credits matter
A BREEAM pre-assessment is a licensed assessor's estimate that the scheme as drawn can hit the required rating. Several credits are locked by the planning drawings and cannot be recovered later.
Kitchen extract filtration options in planning terms
Councils judge a commercial kitchen extract on odour and plant noise at the nearest windows. Termination height decides more cases than filtration, and the two are argued separately.
Like-for-like repairs to a listed building: consent or not
Repairs to a listed building need consent if they would affect its character as a building of special interest. Mortar, roof coverings, joinery and render are where like-for-like usually fails.
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