PlanScope Blog – Page 358
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 358
8692 articlesExtension of time agreements and the eight week clock
Agreeing an extension of time usually beats forcing a decision at week eight. Here is how the statutory periods work, what the fee refund covers and when to appeal instead.
Trading down and off-site sections of a BNG plan
Once on-site gain runs out, the trading rules decide what can replace what. Here is how to write the off-site, credits and management sections of a biodiversity gain plan.
Swimming pools, hot tubs and pool houses in a garden
A garden pool is usually permitted development, but the 50 per cent curtilage test, plant noise and backwash disposal decide whether it works in practice.
Lawful development certificate: sections 191 and 192
A certificate records a legal fact rather than granting permission. Here is how the existing and proposed routes differ, what evidence persuades and what it costs.
Design codes and design review panels in decisions
A design code can carry development plan weight while a review panel only advises. Here is how each one affects an application and how to respond to both on paper.
Habitat condition assessment rules in a BNG report
Condition multiplies straight into the biodiversity unit calculation. Here is how the criteria sheets work, what evidence they need, and how a competent person checks them.
Chimney removal, flues and stoves on a house
A wood burner flue is usually permitted development on a house, with limits on height and position. Here is where planning, listed building consent, smoke control rules and building control each bite.
Section 73: varying a condition without starting again
Section 73 varies conditions on an existing permission but cannot touch the description of development or extend a time limit. Here is where the line sits and what to submit.
Local plan review and five year housing land supply
The supply argument is won on the council's own published evidence. Here is where the monitoring report, the delivery test result and the tilted balance meet.
Trial trenching strategy in an archaeological evaluation
A trial trench evaluation is designed to answer a question, not to cover a percentage. Here is how the sampling strategy, the written scheme of investigation and the mitigation route fit together.
Front boundary walls, fences and gates: height limits
Boundary enclosures are permitted development up to 1 metre next to a highway and 2 metres elsewhere. Here is what counts as adjacent, what listing and conservation area status change, and how height is measured.
Reserved matters: what outline permission leaves open
Outline permission fixes the principle; reserved matters settle access, appearance, landscaping, layout and scale. Here are the limits, the deadlines and the submission pack.
Two-tier areas: who handles highways and archaeology
The council that validates your application often is not the one commenting on access, drainage or archaeology. Here is how responsibilities split in two-tier areas and who to approach first.
Setting the study area in an archaeological DBA
The search radius decides what a desk-based assessment can conclude. Here is how to set it, justify it and record negative evidence so the county archaeologist accepts the result.
Dropped kerbs and driveways: two consents, one project
The kerb and the driveway are approved by different bodies under different rules. Here is how section 184 crossover consent and the Class F surfacing condition fit together.
Solar farm planning permission on farmland: the tests
Ground-mounted solar on farmland is judged on soil grade, landscape effect and reflection long before design detail. Here is the evidence base a rural landowner needs to assemble.
Pre-commencement condition: what it blocks and when
A pre-commencement condition stops all development until it is discharged in writing. Here is the section 100ZA agreement rule, the discharge procedure and what happens if you start anyway.
National Landscape councils: extension and new-build tests
Inside a National Landscape the council must give great weight to natural beauty and refuse major development except in exceptional circumstances. Here is how those tests are applied to a rural extension or a replacement dwelling.
Air source heat pump siting rules for a house
Class G permits a domestic heat pump provided the noise standard is met at the neighbour's window. Here is what decides the siting, and when the installation needs planning permission instead.
Access chapter of a DAS for a listed building
Listed building access has to reconcile section 16(2) with the Equality Act and say where it lands. Here is the sequence that persuades a conservation officer, and the options table to compare.
Storage yard or open storage planning permission
A field or yard used for commercial storage is a material change of use. The decision turns on principle, surface water, access geometry and what the site looks like from outside.
Delegated decision: who signs off your application
Delegation under section 101 of the Local Government Act 1972 lets officers decide most applications. Here is what sends one to committee, and what an objection has to say to count.
Neighbourhood plans: when they outrank the local plan
Made neighbourhood plans carry full development plan status, and conflict with the local plan is resolved by recency under section 38(5). Here is what those plans can lawfully do and how to write the policy section.
Solar panels on a house roof: the PD limits that apply
Most roof-mounted solar needs no planning permission, provided it projects less than 200mm from the roof plane and sits below the ridge. Here is where the limits bite and what conservation areas really restrict.
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