About Planning Applications
It is useful to understand a little about planning applications. On this page we provide some basic information that we hope helps in this regard.
1. By the time we get to see a planning applications it is very likely that the applicant will have worked on it with council planning officers. This does not mean that the application is supported or approved by the council, but ensures that the application is complete and meets local requirements. Basildon council, like many others, offers a paid-for pre-application planning service. To be clear, we are talking about council officers here, not Councillors.
2. The applicant isn’t necessarily the eventual developer (builder). It could be the landowner themselves, or more likely an agent or developer working for the landowner. For many big sites the ownership of the land stays with the original landowner until planning consent is granted and then it will be bought by the developer.
3. Once the applicant has submitted their application the council’s planning officers will validate it and at that point the clock starts ticking for people and statutory bodies to submit comments and objections.
4. The council will advertise the application in the local press, sometimes put up a notices at the site, and will write to neighbours of the development location.
5. Council planning officers will evaluate the application and the comments received and write an officers report. They will consider national and local planning policies and come up with a recommendation to either approve or refuse planning consent. This can take several weeks or months. The target is 13 weeks for large or complex applications.
6. For small developments the final decision could be taken by planning officers under delegated powers from the planning committee. For larger, complex or more controversial planning applications the matter will go to the planning committee (Councillors) to make a decision. When that will be, and the officers report, will be published about a week in advance of the planning committee meeting.
7. Members of the public and other interested parties, including the applicant or their representatives, can attend and request to speak at the planning committee meeting. They get 3 minutes and cannot be questioned by the committee.
8. If the application is refused, only the original applicant can appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. The appeal is not made to the council. Members of the public or third parties cannot appeal the decision.
9. If the application is approved, is on Green Belt land, and is over 1000 sq. m. of new floor space, the decision has to be referred to the Secretary of State for them to consider whether the application should be ‘called-in’ for review by the Planning Inspectorate.
10. Whether the matter goes to appeal, or is called-in, the decision of the Planning Inspectorate is typically final.
11. If a third party has an issue with an original council decision, or that taken by the Planning Inspectorate, the only course of action is to consider a Judicial Review. In such a situation it’s typically necessary to be able to prove that the process in reaching the decision was at fault, not the decision itself. This is highly technical and needs expensive legal resources.
12. Once an application has been finally decided, and no call-in from the Secretary of State is happening, the council will issue a decision notice to the applicant. If approved the applicant usually has 3 years to commence development.
1. By the time we get to see a planning applications it is very likely that the applicant will have worked on it with council planning officers. This does not mean that the application is supported or approved by the council, but ensures that the application is complete and meets local requirements. Basildon council, like many others, offers a paid-for pre-application planning service. To be clear, we are talking about council officers here, not Councillors.
2. The applicant isn’t necessarily the eventual developer (builder). It could be the landowner themselves, or more likely an agent or developer working for the landowner. For many big sites the ownership of the land stays with the original landowner until planning consent is granted and then it will be bought by the developer.
3. Once the applicant has submitted their application the council’s planning officers will validate it and at that point the clock starts ticking for people and statutory bodies to submit comments and objections.
4. The council will advertise the application in the local press, sometimes put up a notices at the site, and will write to neighbours of the development location.
5. Council planning officers will evaluate the application and the comments received and write an officers report. They will consider national and local planning policies and come up with a recommendation to either approve or refuse planning consent. This can take several weeks or months. The target is 13 weeks for large or complex applications.
6. For small developments the final decision could be taken by planning officers under delegated powers from the planning committee. For larger, complex or more controversial planning applications the matter will go to the planning committee (Councillors) to make a decision. When that will be, and the officers report, will be published about a week in advance of the planning committee meeting.
7. Members of the public and other interested parties, including the applicant or their representatives, can attend and request to speak at the planning committee meeting. They get 3 minutes and cannot be questioned by the committee.
8. If the application is refused, only the original applicant can appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. The appeal is not made to the council. Members of the public or third parties cannot appeal the decision.
9. If the application is approved, is on Green Belt land, and is over 1000 sq. m. of new floor space, the decision has to be referred to the Secretary of State for them to consider whether the application should be ‘called-in’ for review by the Planning Inspectorate.
10. Whether the matter goes to appeal, or is called-in, the decision of the Planning Inspectorate is typically final.
11. If a third party has an issue with an original council decision, or that taken by the Planning Inspectorate, the only course of action is to consider a Judicial Review. In such a situation it’s typically necessary to be able to prove that the process in reaching the decision was at fault, not the decision itself. This is highly technical and needs expensive legal resources.
12. Once an application has been finally decided, and no call-in from the Secretary of State is happening, the council will issue a decision notice to the applicant. If approved the applicant usually has 3 years to commence development.
Types of Application
There are two main types of planning application that we most commonly see.
Full
Full planning applications are the word suggests, they seek approval for a full and complete design, covering access, site layout, types and tenures of housing and everything else required to deliver a complete development.
The expectation is that what gets approved, gets built.
Such approval will include a number of conditions that the developer and development must adhere to, and will also set out any infrastructure payments for affordable housing, education, health, highways etc.
That said, developers can request changes to the original approval as subsequent variation (VAR) planning applications. These might be relatively minor, such as requesting a change to a brick type, but could request some more substantial site layout changes. These applications need to be fully and properly considered but they are not typically subject to further public consultation, but the public can comment if appropriate.
An example of this is Maitland Lodge on Southend Road where full planning permission was granted but the developer changed before development started and the new developer has requested changes to match their design standards.
The expectation is that what gets approved, gets built.
Such approval will include a number of conditions that the developer and development must adhere to, and will also set out any infrastructure payments for affordable housing, education, health, highways etc.
That said, developers can request changes to the original approval as subsequent variation (VAR) planning applications. These might be relatively minor, such as requesting a change to a brick type, but could request some more substantial site layout changes. These applications need to be fully and properly considered but they are not typically subject to further public consultation, but the public can comment if appropriate.
An example of this is Maitland Lodge on Southend Road where full planning permission was granted but the developer changed before development started and the new developer has requested changes to match their design standards.
Qutline
Outline planning applications are seeking approval in principle but do not show a final site layout or define much of the detail on house types or tenures.
In most cases the only fixed elements approved at this stage are the access to the site and the extents (the area, often called the red line) of the proposed development.
Everything else, in effect the detail, is considered to be ‘reserved matters’ that will be subject to further planning applications in the future.
As with Full planning applications, Outline applications can also include a number of conditions that the developer and development must adhere to, and will also set out any infrastructure payments for affordable housing, education, health, highways etc.
In many cases Outline planning permission is secured against the land and the landowner is then able to sell the land to a developer with that permission in principle in place. The developer buying the site will take forward the reserved matters planning applications to define the site to their specifications.
Kennel Lane is a good example of this in that Outline permission was obtained by the land owner with access from Kennel Lane. The site was then sold to a developer. We are waiting for the developer to submit reserved matters planning applications to show exactly what will get built. Again, these applications need to be fully and properly considered but they are not typically subject to further public consultation, but the public can comment if appropriate and it’s an opportunity to suggest changes that might be good locally. For example, making sure wildlife corridors are kept or are created.Outline planning applications are seeking approval in principle but do not show a final site layout or define much of the detail on house types or tenures.
In most cases the only fixed elements approved at this stage are the access to the site and the extents (the area, often called the red line) of the proposed development.
Everything else, in effect the detail, is considered to be ‘reserved matters’ that will be subject to further planning applications in the future.
As with Full planning applications, Outline applications can also include a number of conditions that the developer and development must adhere to, and will also set out any infrastructure payments for affordable housing, education, health, highways etc.
In many cases Outline planning permission is secured against the land and the landowner is then able to sell the land to a developer with that permission in principle in place. The developer buying the site will take forward the reserved matters planning applications to define the site to their specifications.
Kennel Lane is a good example of this in that Outline permission was obtained by the land owner with access from Kennel Lane. The site was then sold to a developer. We are waiting for the developer to submit reserved matters planning applications to show exactly what will get built. Again, these applications need to be fully and properly considered but they are not typically subject to further public consultation, but the public can comment if appropriate and it’s an opportunity to suggest changes that might be good locally. For example, making sure wildlife corridors are kept or are created.Outline planning applications are seeking approval in principle but do not show a final site layout or define much of the detail on house types or tenures.