Major pre-planning application guidance notes and fee schedule

Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended) Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004

The council welcomes and strongly encourages discussion before a developer applies for a major planning application.

This page provides the various types of pre-application advice available to applicants, guidance in respect of the procedure and the corresponding fees.

Processing of Major Pre-Application requests

Major pre-application advice form (PDF - 139.83 KB)

Once a request for pre-application advice and the relevant fee has been received, we will contact you either by phone or in writing to confirm:

• That your proposal qualifies for Major pre-application advice (The service has the right to decline a request for pre-application advice where it is not considered either appropriate or necessary, or inadequate information has been received)
• The most appropriate type of pre-application (based on the listed categories) for the proposals being presented.
• Any additional information and/or fee that is required before the pre-application request can be validated.
• The name of the planning case officer who will be handling your enquiry.

N.B. All Fees should be paid online at Pre-planning Payment.

N.B. The level of detail which can be provided by officers during the pre-application meeting and in the written response will be reflective of the level of detail which is provided by the applicant in their submission.

Subject to a valid pre-application submission being received, including the relevant fee, the case officer will aim to contact you within 14 days of us issuing a formal acknowledgement to arrange a meeting. Meetings will normally be held virtually on MS Teams. If it is agreed that an in-person meeting would be more appropriate, this will be held at the Civic Centre and will be subject to officer availability.

Providing no further research or site investigation is required, you will normally receive a follow-up written response within 21 days after the meeting, which has been agreed by senior management.

Disclaimer

Any advice given by council officers for pre-application enquiries does not constitute a formal response or decision of the council regarding granting planning permission in the future.

Any views or opinions expressed are given in good faith, and to the best of ability, without prejudice to the formal consideration of any planning application, which will be subject to public consultation and ultimately decided by the council.

It will not be possible for Officers to accept revisions to a proposal during the pre-application enquiry. Should pre-application advice be required in respect of an amended or alternative development proposal a follow-up pre-application enquiry or a new pre-application enquiry will need to be submitted and will be subject to the relevant fees as listed.

You should therefore be aware that officers cannot give guarantees about the final formal decision that will be made on your planning or related applications. However, the written advice given may be relevant in the determination of the future planning related applications, subject to the proviso that circumstances and information may change or come to light that could alter the position. Applicants should be aware that older advice may become out of date should development plan policies or material circumstances alter.

We will seek to process all applications within the prescribed determination period. However, it is highly likely that applications submitted following a pre-application discussion will typically progress faster, particularly where the proposals have taken on board the issues raised in the written note. To be fair to those who use the pre-application advice service we do not generally negotiate once planning applications have been submitted to us.