Planning Agents Forum
1 April 2013
Changes to Pre-application Charges
From 1 April 2013, pre-application advice for householder
developments will be chargeable. The fee for the service will be
£36.00 including v.a.t.
Permitted development enquiries remain a free service.
22 November 2012
Changes to Planning Application Fees
The fees and charges for planning applications is set to
increase on 22 November 2012. Please follow the link to the
new
Scale of Fees.
1 April 2012
Changes to Pre-Application Advice Charges
You will be aware that the Council has been charging for
pre-application advice on Major and Strategic application proposals
for a while now. From 1st April 2012, the scale of charges is to be
widened for all pre-application advice for all applications,
excluding householder proposals which will remain free.
Please follow the link to the pre-application advice page for a full
list of the charges.
12 October 2011
Changes to Local List Validation Requirements
Melton Borough Council adopted new Local List Validation
requirements on 28 July 2011. This followed a lengthy period of
consultation by a number of the authorities in the Leicestershire
area.
You must ensure that any application submitted from this date
must conform to the new validation requirements.
These new requirements can be found on the Local List Requirements Page.
9th September 2010
Changes to the (General Development Procedures) Order
1995
A consolidated version of the Order, entitled the Town and
Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order
2010 (DMPO) has been laid before Parliament today and will come in
to force on October 1st. The consolidated Order includes
the original Order and all amendments made to it up until 6 April
2010.
The new Order also includes an amendment that
will allow, in certain circumstances, applicants with partially
implemented outline planning permissions to apply for a replacement
planning permission with a new time limit. The Department of
Communities and Local Goverment will shortly revise the November
2009 guidance on greater flexibility for planning permissions, to
reflect this change. The revised guidance will also update the
legal position in respect of appeals against refusal or non
determination by local authorities of applications for non-material
amendments to existing planning permissions. Copies of the
statutory instruments currently before Parliament can be found at
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/.
A question and answer sheet on the changes can be downloaded by
clicking on this
link.
6th April 2010
Changes to Legislation
There are a number of important changes to planning legislation
and guidance in regards to Permitted Development, appeals, Use
Classes Order and validation requirements coming into force at the
beginning of April 2010. A rundown on the changes is below,
along with links to the relevent websites and documents.
nb. there are a number of other changes to legislation regarding
publicity of applications and to Article 4 Directions which have
not been included here. These can be seen on the Communities and
Planning Portal
websites.
Town and Country Planning (General Development
Procedure)(Amendment)(England) Order 2010
Amends existing statutory arrangements in
relation to:
(a) design and access statements;
(b) the time limits for lodging certain
planning appeals;
(c) applications for non-material changes to
permissions.
(a) Design and access statements &
associated policy changes
The changes in relation to design and access
statements streamline the manner in which applicants discuss the
issue of ‘context’ in their submissions and expand the range of
development that is exempt from the requirement to provide a design
and access statement. Revised policy and guidance has been
published in relation to both information requirements and the
validation of planning applications, see below:
Development Management Policy Annex: Information requirements
and validation for planning applications
Guidance on Information Requirements and Validation
The Town & Country Planning (General
Development Procedure) (Amendment) (England) Order 2010can be found
on the CLG website at: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2010/uksi_20100567_en_1
(b) The time limit for submitting a
planning appeal
The Order also contains provisions which
reduce the time limit for submitting a planning appeal, but only
where the same or substantially the same development is subject to
an enforcement notice.
The new time limits will be:
�� 28 days from the date of the refusal or the
expiry of the period which the local planning authority (LPA) had
to determine the application, where the enforcement notice is
served before the application is submitted;
�� 28 days from the date of the refusal or the
expiry of the period which the LPA had to determine the
application, where the enforcement notice is served before the
decision on the application is reached or the determination period
has expired; or
�� 28 days from the date the enforcement notice
is served, where the enforcement notice is served after the
decision or expiry of the period which the LPA has to reach a
decision on the application, unless the effect would be to extend
the period beyond the usual time limit for cases not involving an
enforcement notice.
The reduced time limit to submit a planning
appeal will apply where an enforcement notice has been served no
more than two years before the date on which the application is
made or where it is served on or after the date of the application.
It will apply regardless of whether an appeal has been lodged
against the enforcement notice or not, provided the enforcement
notice is not withdrawn prior to the expiry of the reduced period
to submit a planning appeal.
(c) Changes in relation to
applications for non material changes
The Order makes two substantive changes:
First, the period for lodging an appeal
against an LPA’s failure to determine an application is being
amended, specifically to include applications for non-material
changes to planning permissions. For these applications, the period
is to begin after the expiry of the period specified in article 4F
of the GDPO (28 days or such time as is agreed).
Second, information about applications for
non-material changes will also be required to be included on the
planning register.
Town and Country Planning (General Permitted
Development) Order 1995
Changes to the Town and Country
Planning (General Permitted Development) (Amendment) (England)
Order 2010 are major changes to PD rights. It
changes:
(a) the scope of non-domestic permitted
development;
(b) permitted development for changes of use
from houses in multiple occupation to dwellinghouses.
(a) Non-domestic permitted
development
The changes to the Order include provisions to
expand the scope of non-domestic permitted development (with
certain constraints) for four main groups of development: industry
and warehousing; schools, colleges, universities and hospitals;
office buildings; and shops. These amendments also include changes
to the regulation of hard surfacing. The Government intends to
expand the range of permitted development rights which require
‘prior approval’ at a later date and has made no decision yet as to
whether to make air conditioning units permitted development in
certain circumstances, so these matters are not covered in the new
Order.
The Town and Country Planning (General
Permitted Development) (Amendment) (England) Order 2010 can be
found on the CLG website at: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2010/uksi_20100654_en_1
The changes effect:
Part 8 - Industrial and Warehouse
Development
Part 32 - Schools, Colleges, Universities and
Hospitals
New Sections:
Part 41 - Office Buildings
Part 42 - Shops or Catering, Financial or
Professional Service Establishments.
These changes effect the erection of new
buildings, alterations and extensions to exisiting buildings, hard
surfaces, plant and machinery, trolley stores etc. These are
complicated and need some looking at before I do a full advice note
on the changes. But we should be aware that we will need to start
assessing such applications against the new regs from 6 April
2010.
(b) Permitted development for changes
of use from houses in multiple occupation to
dwellinghouses.
The final key element of the Order allows a
change of use from a new Class C4 house in multiple occupation
(HMO) to a Class C3 dwelling house to be permitted development.
This change is linked to an amendment to the Use Classes Order
which introduces a specific definition of a HMO along the same
lines as the Housing Act 2004.
New Class I
Permitted development
Development consisting of a change of
use of a building to a use falling within Class C3 (dwellinghouses)
of the Schedule to the Use Classes Order from a use falling within
Class C4 (houses in multiple occupation) of that
Schedule.”
This additional class is clarified in the
changes to the Use Classes Order, linking it to s.254 of the
Housing Act 2004
Changes to the Use Classes
Order.
Also coming into force on the 6 April are
changes to the Use Classes Order.
These provide 2 additional categories, Secure
Residential Institutions (C2a) and HMOs (C4), and changes to what
is a Dwelling (C3)
Class C2A. Secure residential
institutions
Use for the provision of secure residential
accommodation, including use as a prison, young offenders
institution, detention centre, secure training centre, custody
centre, short-term holding centre, secure hospital, secure local
authority accommodation or use as military barracks.”.
Class C3. Dwellinghouses
Use as a dwellinghouse (whether or not as a
sole or main residence) by—
(a) a single person or by people to be
regarded as forming a single household;
(b) not more than six residents living
together as a single household where care is provided for
residents; or
(c) not more than six residents living
together as a single household where no care is provided to
residents (other than a use within Class C4).
Interpretation of Class
C3
For the purposes of Class C3(a) “single
household” shall be construed in accordance with section 258 of the
Housing Act 2004(3).”
Class C4. Houses in multiple
occupation
Use of a dwellinghouse by not more than six
residents as a “house in multiple occupation”.
Interpretation of Class
C4
For the purposes of Class C4 a “house in
multiple occupation” does not include a converted block of flats to
which section 257 of the Housing Act 2004 applies but otherwise has
the same meaning as in section 254 of the Housing Act 2004.”
The changes to the Town and Country Planning
(Use Classes) (Amendment) (England) Order 2010 can be found on the
CLG website at: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2010/uksi_20100653_en_1
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