Post planning decision guidance

What do I do if my application is approved?

If your application is approved, there may be certain conditions that you have to comply with. These could include submitting details of the materials that you want to use to us for approval. You must comply with any conditions before you begin the work.

You must carry out the work exactly as shown on the approved plans. Normally, work must be started within 3 years. If work is not carried out during this timescale the approval will lapse.

If you want to make any changes to the plans that have been approved, you must contact us with the details before starting work. We will then write to you to say whether the changes are acceptable as a non-material amendment or minor amendment to your original application, or whether you will need to make a new planning application.

What if my application is refused or the conditions on the application are difficult for me to work with or I want to make some minor alterations to the development originally proposed?

If your application is refused you will be told the reasons why. You may want to make an appointment with us to discuss whether a different proposal might be acceptable. If the conditions on the application are difficult to work with, you can apply to amend or remove them or appeal against the conditions applied to the permission.

Application for non-material amendments following planning permission form

Appeals to the planning inspectorate

If you are still unhappy you can appeal against the decision to the planning inspectorate. Advice on how to appeal is sent to you with the written notice of decision.

Discharge of conditions (if your permission has "prior to commencements/no development shall take place" conditions)

If your application has conditions attached that need discharging by the council i.e. further details need to be submitted before commencing, you now have to submit a formal application using either the national form called ‘application for approval of details reserved by condition’, or a letter can be sent containing the conditions and details to be discharged.

The appropriate fee must accompany the request and any requests without the correct fee will not be progressed.

The fee is £43 for discharging one or more conditions on a Householder application and £145 for discharging one or more conditions on all other applications.

Each request to discharge conditions attracts a fee regardless of the number of conditions, and so it is cost effective to request the discharge of all planning conditions in one go.

The council will aim to respond within 12 weeks unless further evidence or consultations are required, in which case a longer timescale will be appropriate. If the application was exempt from a fee, then the discharge of conditions application will also be exempt.