Information for planning applicants

Information about Covid 19:

Please read our information on how we are supporting residents and businesses, as well as information on affected services.

Please be aware that there will be some delays in our response times which is unavoidable at the moment. We are experiencing an increase in Covid-related staff absence and many of our staff are working hard to balance work and home schooling. The Council is committed to supporting our staff to work flexibly to enable a balance to be reached which means our officers may be working different hours.

Please bear with us at this difficult time. We are mindful of the personal pressures that a third lockdown places on us all and we respectfully ask that you are considerate when communicating with our staff.

Thank you for your understanding.

It is likely that you will need planning permission if you want to:

build something new
make a major change or
change the use of a building.

Find out about:

the planning process
what you need to do before making a planning application and
what happens after.

Working differently

The Planning Service has changed the way we work due to Covid:

We are working remotely.
The Council supports our staff to work flexibly.
This means that some officers may work different hours.

We have brought forward new ways of working and will continue to do as required. We use prepared:

letters
emails and
other notifications.

Not all have been updated. Some of these may refer to ways of working that have been temporarily suspended or changed. You can find out about how we are working differently using this link: Covid-19 impact on planning processes.

Guidance for Applicants

Please see:

our videos with Councillor Hannaford to help understand how the planning process works
further links to useful information which will assist you when making your application.

Councillor Hannaford explains what we consider when determining a planning application: