About the service
Getting advice from us before you make your application will give you benefits at all stages of the application process.
Getting advice before your application is made will mean you:
- Find out how likely you are to get planning permission before you spend too much time and money on what you want to do,
- Understand how our policies and specialist areas of advice such as design, conservation, highway safety, and trees will be applied to your development,
- Can identify potential problems early on and find solutions,
- Get advice about how to improve your scheme, including making it impact less on the environment,
- Can avoid making an application, in some instances, where there is no likelihood of getting planning permission.
- The advice we give you will mean that when the application is made you will have an improved chance of getting planning permission with your first application.
This service will provide you with the following where applicable:
- An indication of whether the principle of the proposal is likely to be acceptable and identification of possible constraints – for example Green Belt, Conservation, an area liable to flood or proximity to a Listed building,
- An indication of whether the detail of your proposal is likely to be acceptable against the policies of the Development plan,
- Suggestions of ways to improve the scheme,
- Identification of other organisations that will be asked to comment on the application,
- An explanation of the information you need to submit with your application,
- Details of the likely level of Community Infrastructure Levey (CIL) contribution.
Timeframe for responses
- Level 1 : In principle advice for householder proposals : 20 working days.
- Level 2 : Householder pre-application advice service (includes a site visit by officer) : 25 working days.
- New residential and non-residential schemes : 30 working days.
- Planning Performance Agreements : In accordance with agreed timeframes.
We aim to respond to your pre-application within the time frames above. If this isn't going to be possible, your case officer will contact you to discuss this and agree a way forward.
Planning performance agreements
For large scale, complex, or particularly sensitive proposals that require evolving discussions, possibly over many months a bespoke pre-application service can be provided.
This would include a lead Planning Officer arranging for an initial inception or scoping meeting that will result in an agreed project plan, including timescales, key milestones and scheduled meetings.
The cost of this will depend on the nature of the scheme and will be agreed on a case by case basis.