PlanScope Blog – Page 70
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 70
9520 articlesEstablished use and lawful use in planning explained
Immunity from enforcement is not the same as planning permission. What makes a use lawful, how the time limits now work in England, and the evidence a section 191 certificate application needs.
Openness of the Green Belt: spatial and visual
Openness is about the absence of built development, not visual amenity. The metrics that make an openness assessment persuasive, and the comparison traps in the Green Belt exceptions.
Temporary traffic orders and construction access costs
Construction access runs on statutory timetables set by the highway authority. Which works need an order, what the lead times are, and the charges that overrun on urban sites.
The scope and modules of a Whole Life Carbon Assessment
Upfront, embodied and whole life carbon are three different figures from different module sets. The scope errors that get assessments rejected, and the assumptions that move the result.
Primary shopping area: why the boundary matters
One line on the policies map decides whether a site is in centre, edge of centre or out of centre, and whether a sequential test and an impact assessment are needed.
Planning solicitor or planning consultant: who to instruct
Consultants work on the merits, solicitors on the documents and the statutory powers. The tasks that belong to each, the ones that overlap, and four ways to stop them duplicating.
Worked example: the 45 degree test on a semi-detached house
The 45 degree line from a neighbour's habitable window sets the depth of a rear extension. How to measure it, draw it, and three design changes that recover the lost area.
Extension of time agreement or renewing a permission
Two things that get confused. Extending the determination period is routine; extending the life of a permission is impossible, and section 73 cannot do it either.
Party wall awards and the development programme
Party wall procedure runs on its own statutory clock, independent of planning permission. Notice periods, the dissent timetable, the award and what it does to your start date.
Which reports a scheme with a public right of way needs
Recorded rights of way need an order under section 257 or the Highways Act before a scheme can build over them. The timing trap, the objection risk and the evidence to submit.
The carbon offset and monitoring sections of an Energy Statement
Offsetting deals with what is left after fabric, plant and renewables. The residual calculation, the obligation drafting, the metering strategy and who reports once units are sold.
Non-designated heritage asset: how weight is given
No statutory duty, no separate consent, but a policy test that weighs harm against significance. How local lists work, what evidence to produce and when recording is required.
Reusing a report on another site or scheme
Paying for a report buys a licence, not ownership. Where that licence stops, what happens when fees are unpaid, and why resubmitting a previous applicant's documents carries three risks at once.
Drawing schedule for a major residential application
What a major drawing register carries beyond a householder set: binding parameter plans, phasing, street elevations and cross-discipline checks that keep levels and plot numbers consistent.
Deed of variation or a section 106A application
Two routes to change a planning obligation, with very different tests. Why section 106A is not a viability hearing, and when a fresh application beats both.
The cost of changing from outline to full application
Switching from outline and reserved matters to a single full application costs a fresh fee, a rerun of parts of the technical baseline and possibly a renegotiated section 106.
Which reports a scheme with a culverted watercourse needs
A culvert brings a second consent regime under the Land Drainage Act 1991. How to find it, who consents what, why deculverting usually wins, and the reports the submission needs.
The sustainable transport section of a Transport Assessment
Trip generation is arithmetic, accessibility is judgement. Isochrones instead of circles, LTN 1/20 route quality, honest bus evidence and measures that can actually be secured.
Deliverable site: the housing land supply definition
Deliverable means available now, suitable now and achievable with a realistic prospect of delivery in five years. The glossary splits sites into two groups with very different evidential burdens.
Reliance letters on a technical report for a funder
A report creates a duty only to the party who commissioned it. How reliance letters, duty of care deeds and collateral warranties extend that to a funder, and what the limits usually are.
Drawing schedule for a householder application
Most invalid householder applications fail on the drawings. The location plan, block plan, matched existing and proposed sets, scales, levels and numbering that pass validation first time.
Critical drainage area: what the designation changes
Critical drainage areas are notified by the Environment Agency and mapped by lead local flood authorities. Inside one, a Zone 1 infill plot needs the same drainage evidence as a riverside site.
Building notice or full plans application to building control
Two routes to building control approval under the Building Regulations 2010. What each involves, where a building notice is unavailable, and how completion certificates and regularisation work.
What an Article 4 direction does to a conversion appraisal
Withdrawing a permitted development right changes the consent route, the documents, the timetable and the unit mix. Four places an Article 4 direction belongs in a conversion appraisal.
Not sure which documents your council will ask for?
Enter your postcode and PlanScope recommends the right reports for your project, then drafts them in minutes.
Enter your postcode on PlanScope