Presentation to Members of
Crowhurst Parish Council
Charlotte Parker - Planning Applications Manager
April 24th 2017
Development Management Team: Who we are and what we do
Team managers
Jan Ward – Business Support Manager [email protected] 01883 732859
Thomas James (TJ) – Planning Applications Manager [email protected] 01883 732865
Charlotte Parker (CP) – Planning Applications Manager [email protected] 01883 732866
Hilary Orr – Enforcement Manager [email protected] 01883 732768
Planning Case Officers (and whose team they are in)
Chris Hall – Principal Planning Officer [email protected] 01883 732857– (CP)
Robin Evans – Senior Planning Officer – [email protected] 01883 732886 (TJ)
Holly Burton – Senior Planning Officer (P/T) - 01883 732783 – [email protected]
Wayne Spencer – Planning Officer (acting senior planning officer) – [email protected] 01883 732882 (TJ)
Jessica Hampson – Planning Officer – [email protected] 01883 732884 (TJ)
Natalie Rowland – Planning Officer – [email protected] 01883 732885 (CP)
Stephanie Milne – Planning Officer (acting senior planning officer) – [email protected] -01883 732861 (TJ)
Adem Mehmet – Planning Officer – [email protected] – 01883 732985 (TJ)
Jayne Roberts – Technical Support Officer – [email protected] 01883 732895 (CP)
Julie Lunn – Technical Support Officer – [email protected] 01883 732856 (TJ)
What is Development ?
Development is defined by law (section 55 of Town and Country Planning Act 1990) as
‘the carrying out of building, engineering, mining or other operations in, on, over or under land,
or the making of any material change in the use of any buildings or other land.’
For the purposes of the Act ‘building operations’ include: Demolition of buildings, rebuilding,
structural alterations or additions to buildings and ‘other operations normally undertaken by a
person carrying on as a builder’.
‘Development’ is therefore wide ranging, and all of it needs planning permission, however not all
of it needs express planning permission.
The General Permitted Development Order (GPDO) 2015 sets out what is ‘permitted
development’.
Advisable – but not essential – to apply for a Certificate of Lawfulness. Proof when selling
property that planning permission was not required.
Legal determination – whether the development meets the relevant requirements of the GPDO.
Comments from Parish Council (and others) cannot be taken into account.
How are planning decisions reached?
The local planning authority “may grant planning permission, either unconditionally or
subject to such conditions as they think fit, or they may refuse planning permission”
They “shall have regard to the provisions of the development plan, so far as material
to the application, and to any other material considerations” (S70 Town and Country
Planning Act 1990)
Delegation of decision making to Chief Planning Officer (who delegates most decisions
to Planning Applications Managers)
Planning Committee – every 3/4 weeks
Applications taken at CPO’s discretion or at request of Councillor
Approximately 2000 application are determined every year of which about 40 are
Planning Committee decisions
The ‘Plan-Led’ System
“If regard is to be had to the development plan for the purpose of any determination to
be made under the Planning Acts, the determination must be made in accordance with
the plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise” s38(6) Planning &
Compulsory Purchase Act 2004
“Primacy” of the Development Plan depends on it being:
- up to date; and
- in accord with national planning policies (NPPF)
“
Development Plan currently comprises:
Tandridge District Core Strategy 2008
Tandridge Local Plan: Part 2 Detailed Policies 2014
Woldingham Neighbourhood Plan 2016
“Material Considerations”
and “Weight”
There is a clear distinction between whether something is a MATERIAL
CONSIDERATION and the WEIGHT it should be given by the decision maker*
“The former is a question of law. The latter is a question of planning judgment which is
entirely a matter for the planning authority [decision maker]. Provided that the
planning authority [decision maker] has regard to all material considerations, it is at
liberty (within the test of “reasonableness”) to give whatever weight the planning
authority [decision maker] thinks fit or no weight at all…”
Lord Hoffmann Tesco Stores Ltd v SSE (1995)
[* “decision maker” may also be the Secretary of State or his Inspectors dealing with
appeals against your decision]
Types of Material Consideration
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DUTIES UNDER OTHER LEGISLATION e.g. Planning (Listed Buildings and
Conservation Areas) Act, Human Rights, Climate Change Act, European Directives
etc
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POLICY (not in the Development Plan)
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National Planning Policy Framework and National Planning Policy Guidance
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Local e.g. Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs) eg. Woldingham
Character Assessment and Design Guidance
•
PLANNING HISTORY AND APPEAL DECISIONS (these do not set a precedent)
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VIEWS OF CONSULTEES, OBJECTORS/SUPPORTERS
•
FACTORS SPECIFIC TO THE CASE
Some factors ‘on the ground’
Not Material
Material
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design and visual impact
privacy/daylight/sunlight
noise, smell, pollution
access/traffic
health/ health and safety
ecology, landscape
crime (and fear of)
economic impact
planning history / related
decisions
– fallback position e.g. PD
– cumulative impact
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the applicant
land ownership
private rights (e.g. access)
restrictive covenants
property value
competition
loss of view
“moral” issues
numbers of reps
change from previous scheme
Refusals
•
must be justified by reasons (refer to the Development Plan policies)
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reasons must be valid in terms of planning law
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must be based on assessment of the material considerations in the case
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may be subject to appeal; reasons should be defensible
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unreasonable or invalid refusals may result in cost awards against the Council; but
considered decisions properly defended will not, even if lost at appeal
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only one good reason is sufficient
Approvals
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must be lawful
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justification should be clearly minuted if different from officer
report/recommendation
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usually subject to conditions which must pass the tests in the NPPG (this
will be the issue if there is an appeal against any of them).
– relevant to planning
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relevant to the development
reasonable
necessary
precise
enforceable
the reason for a condition should be specific, if possible relate to a
development plan policy and explain clearly and succinctly why condition is being
attached (it is also the justification for a Breach of Condition Notice)
Permitted Development – Recent Changes
Part of Government’s objective to ‘streamline’ the planning process, by making more types of
development permitted development.
Major changes since 2008 (and still changing)
Part 1 = Development within the curtilage of a dwellinghouse (Classes A – H)
Class A – ‘enlargement, improvement or other alteration of a dwellinghouse’
- ‘Larger homes extension’ (8m for detached house, 6m for semi detached) – temporary until
30 May 2019 – notification procedure (applications with /NH suffix)
- Rear and side extensions, ‘principal elevation’, ‘enlarged part’
- Green Belt implications/’fallback’ argument
Classes B and C - alterations/enlargement to the roof, Class E – outbuildings (‘incidental to the
enjoyment of the dwellinghouse’ )
Permitted Development – Recent Changes
Part 3 – Changes of Use (Classes A – V) - some examples:
Restaurants, cafes and takeways to retail (Class A)
Takeaways or pubs to restaurant or café (Class B)
Retail or betting office or pay day loan shop to dwellinghouse (Class M),
Office to dwellinghouse (Class O),
Agricultural building to dwellinghouse (Class Q),
Business use, hotel, residential institution or leisure building to state-funded or registered
nursery (Class T).
Prior approval generally required (transport and highway impacts, noise impacts, contamination
risk, flood risk)
Applications with /NC suffix
Used as part of ‘fallback’ argument
Again, a legal determination – Parish Council and other comments cannot be taken into account
Green Belt
National Green Belt policy set out in National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) 2012.
Reflected in Development Plan Policies (mainly within Local Plan 2014)
Starting point is that all development is inappropriate, unless one of the stated exceptions.
Openness – an absence of development.
NPPF introduced significant changes to policy
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‘Previously developed land’ (impact on openness – spread, height, massing)
Extensions to and replacement of ‘buildings’ can be appropriate development (previously
this only applied to dwellings)
Test for extensions = are they disproportionate (cumulative with other post 1968 extensions)
Test for replacement buildings = is the proposed building ‘materially larger’ than the building it
replaces
In both cases, will be assessed both mathematically and visually
Consultation and Parish Council Involvement
Town and Country Planning (General Management Procedure) Order 2015
National requirements for all aspects of procedure, including what should be submitted with
applications, publicity and notification.
Statutory consultees (eg. Environment Agency, Natural England, Historic England, SCC
(highways))
Other advisory consultees – Surrey Wildlife Trust, Historic Buildings Adviser, AONB adviser,
Tandridge Access Group
Neighbour notification – set out in Development
Management Charter
Site notices – Major development, listed buildings,
conservation areas, TPOs
Consultation and Parish Council Involvement
Statutory requirement to notify Parish Councils as set out in Paragraph 8(1) of Schedule 1 of the
1990 Planning Act
Relates only to planning applications and approval of reserved matters under an outline
permission, and ‘alterations’ to them accepted by the Council (except where they are considered
to be ‘trivial’ in nature).
Once the Parish Council has been notified, the Council cannot make a decision before 21 days has
elapsed, unless (a) comments are made within that time or (b) they have been advised by the
Parish Council that they do not wish to comment.
Weight given to comments – a material consideration
Section 54 of the 1990 Act ‘Where, in making any determination under the planning Acts, regard
is to be had to the development plan, the determination shall be made in accordance with the
plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise’