PlanScope Blog – Page 328
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 328
8745 articlesWhat counts as curtilage and why it decides your rights
Permitted development rights for a house apply within its curtilage. That word is not defined in the GPDO, and where the line falls decides whether an outbuilding is lawful or not.
When one hectare triggers a Flood Risk Assessment
Site area is a flood trigger in its own right. Any proposal on a site of one hectare or more needs a site-specific Flood Risk Assessment, whatever the flood zone, and small sites can be caught by other routes.
Farm tracks and new accesses: when permission is needed
Most farm tracks are permitted development under Part 6 of the GPDO 2015, subject to prior notification. The access where the track meets the public road is a separate question, and it is the one that catches people out.
Water supply and foul drainage on remote rural sites
On a remote site the water and drainage answers involve the undertaker, the Environment Agency and environmental health. Each runs on its own timetable, so ask before the design is fixed.
ProPG: the two stage approach to noise near new homes
ProPG runs an initial site noise risk assessment then a four element full assessment. The element reports most often skip is the one officers look for first.
Using a conservation area appraisal in your application
The appraisal is the council's own account of what makes your area special. Designing against it answers most of the objection before the application is submitted.
The surface water discharge hierarchy and how to evidence it
The hierarchy runs ground, watercourse, surface water sewer, combined sewer. Applications stall on missing evidence that the higher options were tested, not on the design itself.
Safeguarded wharves and building beside a waterway
Wharf safeguarding survives long periods of disuse, and the burden of showing a wharf is no longer viable sits with the applicant. Waterside sites carry their own consents and liabilities.
Prior approval and the 56 day rule explained
Development can begin 56 days after a valid prior approval application if the council has not notified a decision. The word doing the work in that sentence is valid.
Biodiversity net gain on small sites: what applies and when
Biodiversity net gain applied to small sites from 2 April 2024. Being small does not mean being exempt, and the baseline survey has to happen in the right season.
Barn conversions and the protected species living in them
Bat and barn owl surveys are the item most likely to add a year to a barn conversion. The preliminary roost assessment should happen before you buy, not after the design.
Choosing a representative background sound level period
The background LA90 decides the outcome of a BS 4142 assessment. Survey design, exclusions and the argument about the lowest night-time value are where reports are challenged.
Historic building recording levels 1 to 4 explained
Recording levels run from a basic photographic record at Level 1 to a full analytical record with documentary research at Level 4. The level drives fee, programme and content.
Permeable paving in a planning drainage strategy
Permeable paving removes impermeable area, provides subbase storage and treats runoff. It fails when it is drawn as a hatch with no section and no maintenance regime.
Trip generation for student and age restricted housing
Student and age restricted housing generate different trip patterns from general housing. The difference has to be evidenced with site selection, surveys and enforceable controls.
National Landscape setting: developing outside the boundary
The boundary on the policies map does not end the landscape argument. Sites outside a National Landscape are assessed on setting, and the statutory duty was strengthened in 2023.
Part 20 upward extensions: adding storeys by prior approval
Part 20 contains five upward extension classes with different storey allowances, height caps and date tests. Picking the wrong class is the usual reason a notification fails.
Active Travel England as a consultee on major schemes
Active Travel England is consulted on major applications above set thresholds and assesses walking, wheeling and cycling design against national guidance rather than local habit.
Hedgerows, ancient woodland and the buffers you must keep
Important hedgerows, ancient woodland and veteran trees shape a rural layout before the houses are placed. What triggers each protection and what the buffers have to contain.
Acoustic feature corrections in a BS 4142 assessment
Acoustic feature corrections decide most BS 4142 outcomes. Here is how tonality, impulsivity and intermittency are graded, and what evidence a reviewer expects to see behind each.
Archaeological trial trenching: what evaluation proves
Trial trenching converts an unknown archaeological liability into a costed mitigation scheme. The sample, the layout and the timing all need agreeing before the machine arrives.
Attenuation storage sizing: durations, uplifts and volume
Attenuation volume is set by a matrix of return periods and durations, not a single storm. The uplifts, the critical duration and the drain down check decide the number.
Clearing a site before you apply and what it costs you
Stripping a site before applying does not tidy the planning problem away. It fixes the biodiversity baseline at what was there before, removes your evidence and can breach four separate legal regimes.
Accessible parking bays: sizes, numbers and where they go
Accessible parking standards come from BS 8300, the local plan, building regulations and the Equality Act at once. Here is how the four fit together on a planning layout.
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