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• Making a Planning Application
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• Making a Planning Application

Making a Planning Application

This web-page provides information on how to make a planning application and how that application will be processed by the Council, as well as links to other sources of information.

• Before making an application
• Pre-application advice
  • policy
  • constraints
  • planning history
  • general information
• Submitting a planning application
• Processing a planning application
• Determining a planning application

Before making an application

Before making an application it is important to establish whether planning permission or any other sort of planning consent is required, for example Listed Building Consent or Conservation Area Consent. 

Planning permission is required for most building or engineering operations or for the change of use of land or buildings (for example from a shop to an office).  However, many forms of development, especially those connected with existing dwellings, do not require the submission of an application, as they have permitted development rights. 

Further information on the need for planning permission or other consents is available from the Planning Portal, for example in their  Visual Guide for Householders. 

The Planning Portal also provides a useful set of links to various tools that may help you with your development proposals, for example a volume calculator, a carbon calculator and a plan creator.

The Council can provide more specific advice on whether you may need planning permission (or another consent). Please contact planning@cotswold.gov.uk 

In order to be able to provide a full response to the query, the following information should be provided

Development proposals that do not require planning permission or any other sort of planning consent may still require Building Regulations approval.   Additional information on Building Regulations is available from the Council's web-site and from the Planning Portal.

Pre-application advice

Policy

All planning decision are guided by the relevant policies and legislation.  The key documents are -

• National Planning Policy Framework
• Cotswold District Council Local Plan
• Gloucestershire Structure Plan

Constraints

There are also a number of constraints that have to be taken into consideration in determining planning applications, for example -

• listed buildings
• protected trees
• flood risk
• conservation areas
• contaminated land

Planning history

It is possible to carry out your own research to discover the planning history of a site, via the Council’s Planning Register Search.

General Information

Additional information on the planning process can be found on the Planning Resources for District / Town / Parish Councillors web-page.

You may wish to appoint professionals to help, for example an architect, planning agent or surveyor.

It is possible to obtain pre-application advice from the Council.  It should be noted that there may be a charge for this advice, depending on the type and complexity of the proposal.   There is general advice about design etc available on the Council’s web-site.

It is always advisable to discuss any development proposals with your neighbours at an early stage.

For major applications, applicants are encouraged to use Planning Performance Agreements. A PPA is an agreement between a local planning authority and an applicant and provides a project management framework for handling major planning applications.

Submitting a planning application

The Council receives nearly 70% of applications online and we recommend that you make your planning application via the Planning Portal.

Registration is easy and you can complete your application form, upload supporting documents and pay fees online. 

The benefits of applying online include:

• Immediate delivery and acknowledgement
• Savings on postage and printing costs
• Online help function when completing applications
• Online record of your completed applications
• Creation of site location plans

If you prefer, you can complete your application form online and submit supporting documents and fees by post.  

Please note a planning application cannot be progressed until all the necessary supporting information (as outlined on the validation checklists and the guidance notes) and the appropriate fee is received. 

Plans and files should be submitted in the correct format and scale, following the guidance on submitting plans with planning applications and the guidance on submitting electronic files with planning applications. 

 If you have any problems using the Planning Portal, they provide a very useful FAQs page

Alternatively you can make a planning application in the traditional “paper” way by downloading the appropriate application forms from the Planning Portal web-site.  You then send two copies of your completed planning application forms, required documents and plans to our offices by post or in person. 

Processing a Planning Application

The application and associated documentation will be checked when it is received by the Council and if any information is missing, the Planning Officer will contact you to arrange for the additional information to be submitted, within an agreed timescale.  The Planning Officer will also indicate if they consider that the development proposals are likely to be found acceptable.

The Case Officer will usually visit the site to assess the implications of the proposals and to put up any site notices.  It will not always be necessary for you to be present during the site visit.

Some application types are advertised in the papers or are the subject of consultation letters to neighbours.  The details of all applications and notifications are also available on the Council’s web-site.

Formal consultations with other organisations, such as Parish Councils are usually undertaken.  Other technical advisors, both within and outside the Council may also be consulted, for example the Council’s Tree Officer, the Highway Authority or the Environment Agency. The time period for this consultation is usually 21 days.

Determining a planning application

In most cases, particularly for householder applications, the decision as to whether to grant permission or not is made without going to a public meeting (Planning Committee), but under delegated powers.   If an application is to be heard by the Planning Committee, the applicant will be informed and invited to attend the Planning Committee meeting and speak about the proposal.