Pre-application advice

Pre-application advice fees

Apply for Pre-application advice

On 19 January 2022 the Planning Committee agreed revisions to the charging and services for pre-application advice. The new charges commence for all relevant pre-application proposals received on and after 1 February 2022.

The charging schedule and accompanying notes are shown below. It should be noted that in respect of residential development, the charges apply to the gross number of dwellings being proposed.

Please be advised if your enquiry is about if you need planning permission, you will need to apply for a Lawful Development Certificate, and no informal advice is now provided. To be able to determine a Lawful Development Certificate, the submitted plans need to be accurate and clear. Further guidance can be found on the Planning Portal

Where meetings are offered these will be conducted via Microsoft Teams or similar digital appropriate platform unless the Corporate Head of Planning, Economy & Built Environment considers there is a good reason a particular meeting should be held in person.

Pre-application advice can be paid on-line or over the telephone (01932 425131). If you decide to pay by cheque please ensure that you put "PREAPP" and the address of site to which your proposal relates on the back of the cheque. Failure to put a suitable reference on your payment will cause delays in your fee being processed.

Pre-application advice fees
No Type Proposed fee including VAT Notes
A1 Householder £100 Written response within 20 working days
B1

One new or replacement dwelling

Changes of use or minor works to buildings (not householder)

£200 (basic)

£350 (enhanced)

Written response within 20 working days (basic)

Enhanced option includes a site visit by officer and a meeting with case officer

C1 2-4 dwellings (including replacement dwellings)

£400 (basic)

£700 (enhanced)

 

Written response within 30 working days (basic)

Enhanced option includes a site visit with written notes within 10 working days of meeting

D1 5-9 dwellings/up to 1000sqm commercial £1000

Includes one meeting

A site visit, if required, at the discretion of the officer

Written notes/summary response within 10 working days of the meeting

 

E1 10-20 dwellings/up to 2000 sqm commercial £2000

Includes one meeting

A site visit, if required, at the discretion of the officer

Written notes/summary response within 10 working days of the meeting

F1 20-49 dwellings/2000 - 10,000 sqm commercial* £3000

Includes site visit, initial meeting and follow up meeting if required

Advice from internal consultees (where appropriate)

Written meeting notes/summary

Letter following final meeting

G1 50-200 dwellings/over 2500 - 10,000 sqm commercial* £6,000

Includes site visit, initial meeting and follow up meeting if required

Input from an appropriate senior planning officer, which will be one of the following Corporate Head of Development Management & Building Control, the Development Manager or Assistant Development Manager

Advice from internal consultees (where appropriate)

Advice on time scales for the application

Written meeting notes/summary letter following final meeting

H1

More than 200 units

More than 10,000 sqm commercial

Unusual or bespoke large scale development types

To be negotiated with Development Manager

Includes site visit, initial meeting and follow up meeting if necessary

Input from an appropriate senior planning officer, which will be one of the Corporate Head of Development Management & Building Control, the  Development Manager or  Assistant Development Manager

Advice from internal consultees (where appropriate)

Pre-validation check

Advice on time scales for the application

Written meeting notes/summary letter following final meeting

I1 Planning performance agreements for major and complex schemes To be negotiated with Development Manager

Terms to be agreed between both parties

Input from an appropriate senior planning officer, which will be one of the Corporate Head of Development Management & Building Control, the Development Manager or  Assistant Development Manager

Other pre-application services offered

The  below fees will be in addition to those list above. A planning officer will always be required to assist in such discussion on Heritage.

Listed buildings, Heritage and Conservation

Listed building, heritage and conservation
Development type Initial Initial Follow-on Follow-on
Written advice only Meeting with written advice Written advice Meeting online with written advice
Householder £275.00 £535.00 £275.00 £535.00

Minor developments

  • 1- dwellings
  • up to 999m2 floor space
£405.00 £675.00 £405.00 £535.00
Major developments
  • 10-49 dwellings
    1,000-2,999m2 floor space
£535.00 £745.00 £535.00 £675.00
Large major developments
  • 50-99 dwellings
  • 2,500-4,999m2 floor space
£675.00 £940.00 £675.00 £745.00
Strategic developments
  • 100+ dwellings
  • 5,000m2 + floor space
£745.00 £1,010.00 £745.00 £870.00
Listed building £340.00 £605.00 £440.00 £590.00
Bespoke and hybrid developments NA on request NA On request

 

Number Service Fee Notes
K1 Tree advice £90 per hour
(minimum charge 1 hour)
Primarily for householder

For proposed works to a single tree or up to 10 protected trees within a single residential
private garden (TPO and conservation area)

Site and meeting at the officer’s discretion. Chargeable hourly rate for tree officer as below

Attendance at requested additional meetings

Attendance at requested additional meetings not covered by a Pre-app fee or Planning Permission Application.

Whether a meeting request is accepted, what meetings are considered chargeable, or which officers attend is at the absolute discretion of the Corporate Head of Planning, Economy & Built Environment.

Where the Corporate Head of Planning, Economy & Built Environment considers a meeting to be chargeable, developers will be notified of this ahead of the meeting and will have the right to withdraw the meeting request if they so choose.

Officer level Hourly rate

Corporate Head of Planning, Economy & Built Environment

£200

Development Manager

Local Plans Manager

£150
Assistant Development Manager £125
Principal Planning Officer £110
Senior Planning Officer £100

Planning Officer

Tree Officer

CIL Officer

£90
  1. Standard fees and charges apply to queries regarding the planning history of a site. These are agreed annually on a separate basis as part of the budget process.
     
  2. The offering of pre-app services and the acceptance of any particular pre-application submission is at the sole discretion of the Corporate Head of Development Management and Building Control.
     
  3. If a proposal is presented to the Planning Department that is not currently covered by this charging regime, the fee to be levied and any associated arrangements e.g. Member’s Forums at the request of applicants, will be subject to negotiation on an individual basis. These fees are likely to be set at a significantly higher scale than detailed above. There should be no assumption that a fee will not be charged.
     
  4. Where indicated advice from internal consultees will be provided where appropriate. You may need to also separately engage with other statutory consultees such as Natural England the Environment Agency or County Council.
     
  5. For the avoidance of doubt sites proposing 100% affordable housing scheme on land not owned by the Council will be subject to the above fee charging regime.
     
  6. The Council will endeavour to meet the time scales specified in this note, but during busy periods this may not be possible. If the time scales are not met the enquiry will still be dealt with and no refunds will be made.
     
  7. Where requests cover more than one option, submitted at the same time, an additional fee may be chargeable. You should contact the Development Manager for a quote.
     
  8. Fee reductions will be considered on a case-by-case basis, but in most cases, will be limited to proposals by state schools and local registered charities where proposals provide benefits to the wider community. Whether or not to offer any form of reduction, or the amount of reduction, will be at the sole discretion of the CHDMBC.
     
  9. Planning Officers can only give a professional opinion on the merits of a pre-application scheme. It should be noted that pre-application negotiations are not a substitute for the formal planning application process and can offer no guarantees. All pre-application advice letters will contain the following caveat:

The advice given represents an Officer’s informal opinion based on the information you have supplied and is not intended to bind the Local Planning Authority’s decision making powers on any formally submitted application. All submitted applications will be the subject of publicity and consultation in accordance with statutory requirements and the Council’s adopted procedures. These, and any other matters which may subsequently come to light, may result in additional issues being raised that are pertinent to the determination of the application. It should also be noted that subsequent alterations to local and national planning policies may affect the advice given.

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