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 Development Management & Building Control 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.
| No | Type | Proposed fee including VAT | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Householder and other for example Change of Use | £100 | Written response within 20 working days |
| B1 | One new or replacement dwelling | £200 (basic) £350 (enhanced) |
Written response within 20 working days (basic) |
| C1 | 2-4 dwellings (including replacement dwellings) | £400 (basic) £700 (enhanced) |
Written response within 20 working days (basic) |
| D1 | 5-9 dwellings/up to 1000sqm commercial | £1000 |
Includes one meeting
|
| E1 | 10-20 dwellings/up to 2000 sqm commercial | £2000 |
Includes one meeting |
| F1 | 20-49 dwellings/2000 - 10,000 sqm commercial* | £3000 |
Includes site visit, initial meeting and follow up meeting if required |
| G1 | 50-200 dwellings/over 2500 - 10,000 sqm commercial* | £6,000 |
Includes site visit, initial meeting and follow up meeting if required |
| 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 |
| I1 | Planning performance agreements for major and complex schemes | To be negotiated with Development Manager |
Terms to be agreed between both parties |
Other pre-application services offered
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
|
£405.00 | £675.00 | £405.00 | £535.00 |
Major developments
|
£535.00 | £745.00 | £535.00 | £675.00 |
Large major developments
|
£675.00 | £940.00 | £675.00 | £745.00 |
Strategic developments
|
£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 Development Management and Building Control.
Where the Corporate Head of Development Management and Building Control 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 Development Management and Building Control Corporate Head of Planning Policy and Economic |
£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 |
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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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