PlanScope Blog – Page 343
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 343
8414 articlesGross value added: what GVA means in planning evidence
GVA is the headline number in most economic cases and the one officers trust least. Here is how to build it from sourced inputs and present it so it carries weight.
Development corporations as your planning authority
Inside a designated area the corporation, not the council, may decide your application. Here is how to confirm the determining body, the plan in force and the levies.
Anaerobic digestion or biomass plant on a farm: permission
Farm digestion schemes are refused on lorry movements and odour far more often than on principle. Here is the evidence that answers both before the layout is fixed.
Agricultural Land Classification survey: grades and BMV
Published ALC maps stop at grade 3, so only a site survey can show whether land is best and most versatile. Here is what the survey does and how councils use it.
Highway: why the public road is wider than the tarmac
Highway land normally includes the verge and footway as well as the road surface. Knowing where the boundary sits changes what you can build and what needs a separate licence.
National Park authorities: how they differ as your council
In an English National Park the authority is your local planning authority, but building control and highways stay with the council. Here is how the split works in practice.
Wind turbine planning permission for a farm or small site
A single farm turbine is decided on landscape impact more often than anything else. Here is the assessment order that saves money and the consultees to approach first.
Phase 2 contamination report: sampling and risk sections
A Phase 2 report tests the pollutant linkages the desk study only suspected. Here is what each section has to show before a contaminated land condition can be discharged.
Visibility splay: the sightline your access must achieve
A visibility splay is the clear triangle at your access. Get the X and Y distances and the land ownership right and a highways objection usually disappears.
Green Belt councils: what counts as a proportionate addition
A Green Belt extension is judged against the volume of the original dwelling as it stood in 1948. Here is how councils measure it and what evidence wins the argument.
Listed building consent: applying to your council step by step
Listed building consent is a separate permission with no application fee and criminal penalties for breach. Here is what to submit and in what order.
EV charging points: planning rules for homes and car parks
One charger is rarely a planning issue. A charging hub with canopies, cabinets and a substation is a different proposition entirely.
Geotechnical assessment: what Eurocode 7 reporting requires
Planning wants enough ground evidence to show stability and a workable drainage design. Here is what to investigate and how the reporting should read.
Five year housing land supply: how councils count it
Both sides of the five year supply ratio are contestable. Here is where the requirement figure comes from and what clear evidence of deliverability means.
Conservation area tree notices and the six-week rule
A conservation area protects trees as well as buildings. Here is how the section 211 notice works, what is exempt, and what the council can do in six weeks.
Air source heat pump planning permission for a house
Class G permits most domestic heat pumps, and noise is the condition that decides it. Here is how the calculation works and when you have to apply.
Structural survey for a Class Q barn conversion
Prior approvals under Class Q fail on structural evidence more than anything else. Here is what the survey has to establish and how to word the conclusion.
Higher-risk buildings: 18 metres and Planning Gateway One
The 18 metre and seven storey thresholds decide whether a scheme needs a fire statement and consultation with the Building Safety Regulator.
Dropped kerbs: planning permission and the highway licence
A crossover involves two separate consents from the same council. Here is which one you need, in what order, and what the highway authority checks.
Rooftop solar panels: when a house needs permission
Solar on an ordinary house rarely needs an application. The exceptions are listed buildings, Article 4 areas, front elevations and anything on a flat.
Basement Impact Assessment: screening and scoping stages
Most of what decides a basement application happens at screening and scoping, before a single borehole is sunk. Here is how the stages fit together.
Best and most versatile land: grades 1, 2 and 3a explained
Provisional maps cannot tell you whether land is grade 3a or 3b, and that distinction settles more rural planning arguments than any other.
Planning enforcement: what happens after a complaint
Councils have a discretion to enforce rather than a duty. Here is what actually happens after someone reports a breach, and the routes out of one.
Battery storage planning permission on a field site
Electricity storage sits outside the nationally significant infrastructure regime, so a field-scale battery scheme goes to the local planning authority. Here is what to evidence.
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