Development Control - Discharge of Planning Conditions

It is important to check your decision notice carefully and identify which conditions require you to submit further details or information, and when these have to be complied with as some must be complied with before a development is started. Commencement of development, prior to the discharge of relevant conditions will render the development unlawful and could lead to formal enforcement action by the Council.

Written Requests or 1APP form

The request for a discharge of a condition or confirmation of compliance with a condition must be made in writing or by using the new forms and associated guidance notes. It is preferable for applicants to use the above form; however, you are not obliged to do so providing that your application clearly identifies the relevant planning permission reference number, the condition(s) concerned and your contact details. Applications will only be accepted when accompanied by the relevant fee (see below).

When submitting details to be discharged, please be aware that the Government requires authorities to deal with all requests within 8 weeks of a valid request being received. Accordingly; you should allow sufficient time for the details to be considered within the terms of the condition, i.e. before commencement of development. Fees are refundable on request if no response is sent within 12 weeks from the date of receipt. If we have not notified or contacted you within the 8 weeks you have the right to appeal to the Secretary of State.

When it is necessary to discharge more than one planning condition on an application, we advise that you submit details for as many conditions as possible in one submission in order to reduce the number of applications needed and fee’s incurred.

Fees

The Government has introduced new fees for the discharge of planning conditions from 6 April 2008.

A fee is now payable where a written request is made for the discharge of one or more conditions on the same permission or for the written confirmation of compliance with a condition or conditions. The fee is payable per written request to discharge conditions not per condition and therefore any number of conditions may be included on a single request.

The fees are as follows:-

The fee must be paid when the request is made, and cannot be received retrospectively. It does not matter when the permission was granted.