PlanScope Blog – Page 355
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 355
8717 articlesRetail unit to flats above the shop: permission route
Class MA covers the change of use but not the building works. Here is which route fits, and how access, light and noise from the shop below decide the case.
Backland and tandem development explained
Backland and tandem schemes stand or fall on the drive past an existing house. Here is how officers assess disturbance, privacy and servicing.
Statement of community involvement: when councils demand one
The applicant's statement of community involvement is a validation requirement, not a national one. Here is what officers expect the record to show.
Agricultural building prior notification under Part 6
Part 6 lets you build a farm building without full permission, within hard limits. Here is the prior notification procedure and the thresholds that break the class.
Infill development: what counts as a genuine gap site
Whether your gap counts as infill is decided by the local plan and the settlement boundary. Here is how officers test plot width, spacing and access.
Officer delegation reports: what a case officer writes about you
Delegated reports follow a predictable skeleton. Write your statement to match it and the officer can lift your reasoning rather than paraphrasing it.
Shepherd's hut or lodge as a permanent holiday unit
Whether your hut is a caravan or a building changes the application and the licensing. Here is how councils assess siting, drainage and occupancy conditions.
Amenity: the word councils use to refuse extensions
Amenity bundles privacy, outlook, daylight and disturbance into one refusal reason. Here is how councils test each strand and what evidence answers them.
Planning conditions councils repeat: reading the standard set
Councils work from a standard condition library. Knowing what is in it lets you design to it and fix the wording before the decision notice is issued.
Roadside farm caravan and campsite: the 28 day rules
The 28 day allowance counts days across the whole planning unit and covers only moveable structures. Here is where the line falls and what a permanent site needs.
Health Impact Assessment: screening to full assessment
An HIA is required by local policy rather than national law. Here is how screening decides the scope and what makes the recommendations count.
Weight: how officers decide how much a policy carries
Weight is a planning judgement, not a rule. Here is how officers weigh adopted, emerging and supplementary policy, and what makes an objection count.
Council planning registers: searching decisions and precedent
The statutory planning register shows how your council actually decides cases like yours. Here is how to search it, read it and use it in a submission.
Change of use to a veterinary practice or dog day care
Barking noise and the drop-off peak decide most dog day care and veterinary applications. Here is the evidence councils expect and the conditions to negotiate.
Retail Impact Assessment: the impact test sections
The diversion table decides a Retail Impact Assessment. Here is how to build the catchment, allocate trade and write a conclusion that engages with the numbers.
Gross 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.
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