Planning Advice

The Need for Planning Permission

Generally speaking, new buildings, major alterations or enlargement of existing buildings, and changes in the use of buildings and land are classed as development and will normally need planning permission. Guidance on the need for planning permission can be found at the Planning Portal

The best advice, whatever the circumstances is to talk to Development Control Staff at Stroud District Council.

We provide a drop in facility at Ebley Mill between 10:00 and 16:00 Monday to Friday for informal advice and guidance. The rules dealing with what work needs planning permission means that Council will need quite a bit of information about your proposals before advising on a way forward. We have a guide which will help with householder type developments. If you would like confirmation in writing that you don’t need permission, you will need to fill in an application form known as a Certificate of Lawful Development and pay the appropriate fee (£75 for householders). Because this is a technical appraisal we won’t need to carry out consultation, and as such we will try to reply to your request within 28 days. We are sorry but we can no longer give letters of comfort.

For a householder application, you will need to provide sketch drawings (to a scale of 1:100 or 1:50) of what the house looked like originally (when built), what it looks like now (if different) and what it will look like afterwards. You will need to submit a block plan at a scale of 1:500 showing distances to all boundaries and details of all buildings/structures in the garden. Lastly, you will need to provide a site location plan at a scale of 1:1250. It is also helpful to have photographs to help the officer visualise the proposal. A full list of requirements can be found at www.stroud.gov.uk/docs/planning/how_to_plan.asp

The planning application process

A new planning application is firstly checked to ensure that it has been correctly completed and that the drawings and forms adequately illustrate the proposal. The fee is assessed. If there are no problems and the application is complete a written acknowledgement is sent to the applicant or agent if one is used. Details of the application are then entered on to the "planning register" for the public to inspect.

The Council has to carry out a number of consultations on each application depending on the type and complexity of the proposal. The appropriate town or parish council are notified and given twenty one days to respond to the Council with their observations. The County Council Highway Department is consulted on applications where there may be a highway safety issue. In more complex or large scale cases it may be necessary to advertise the proposal and consult with other organisations, for example the Environment Agency. Neighbours are consulted on most applications where they are known and have a common boundary with the site. If it is not possible to identify neighbouring residents and their property a site notice will be displayed on or near the site.

The Planning Officer dealing with the application will inspect the site and prepare a report summarising the observations received and the planning considerations. In reaching his or her recommendation, the Officer will consider all the replies received, the compliance or otherwise of the proposal against the policies of the Local Plan, Government advice (PPG'S, Directions and Circulars), the County Structure Plan, and any other relevant policies or considerations.

A decision is then made under the Scheme of Delegation (by Senior Officers) or by the Development Control Committee, which meets on the second Tuesday of every month. Once a decision has been reached the applicant or agent will receive written notification of the decision.

How long does the process take?

We will aim to deal with an application within eight weeks of a completed application or sixteen weeks if it is accompanied by an Environmental Impact Statement (EIA). Our target is to deal with 80% of applications within this time period. If an application has to be placed before the Development Control Committee it can sometimes take a little longer to deal with the application or if there are matters which have to be resolved before the application is considered to be acceptable the same can apply. You can appeal against the failure of the Council to determine an application after eight weeks (or sixteen weeks if an EIA is submitted) and the matter will be determined by a Planning Inspector from the Planning Inspectorate.

Visit their website at www.planning-inspectorate.gov.uk