Make a planning application

IMPORTANT NOTICE
Like many planning authorities, Cotswold District Council has experienced a significant increase in demand for planning approval at the same time as we were experiencing a national shortage of experienced planning officers. This, regrettably, led to applications taking longer to determine than we would have liked.
We have been doing everything we can to improve the situation. We are now fully staffed and our waiting times are reducing. As you will appreciate, it is important to all residents of the district that we make the right decisions in relation to planning applications and we thank you for your patience.
We are putting in place measures to improve our communication with planning applicants so that you know where your individual application is in the process.
Thank you

How to apply for planning permission

To apply for planning permission you will need to send us:

a completed application form
the correct fee
plans of the site to scale 1:1250 or 1:2500
any relevant supporting information known as validation criteria

You may also want to get advice on your application before you submit it.

Application fees and how to pay

Use the fee calculator to calculate how much you need to pay with your application. In order to pay:

If you send us your application through the Planning Portal, you pay online there.
If you don't apply via the Planning Portal, you can pay online through our website here.
If you are unable to pay online you can pay over the phone, call customer services. You'll need to know the correct due amount.
An admin fee of £32.00 is charged on all applications submitted by email or hard copy.

How to apply

Apply for planning permission

Please ensure you check the validation criteria to see what information you will need to send in with your application.

If you prefer to complete a paper form, you can download a planning permission form then either post it back to us or deliver it by hand. An admin fee of £32.00 will be charged on all applications submitted by email or hard copy.

You will need to check whether you need to pay Community Infrastructure Levy and submit the CIL additional information form with your application.

What happens next

We will check your application and get in touch with you if there is any information missing. A planning officer will assess your proposal and may visit the site to put up the site notice.

All applications will be made available to view and comment on through Public Access.

For most standard or small planning applications you should have a decision in eight weeks. Larger or more complex applications may take up to 13 weeks.

Some planning applications might need to be decided by planning committee. If this is the case we will let you know and invite you to speak to the planning committee.

Making changes to your application

Once you have been given planning permission you may need to make a change to your application. If so, you may need to apply for a non-material amendment.

Check the non-material amendment validation criteria to find out what you will need to include in an application to make a change.

Negotiating submitted applications

The council has recently adopted a negotiation protocol with respect to how it determines planning applications and what amendments will be accepted during the lifetime of that application. Applicants and agents are encouraged to read the protocol before submitting any application or before submitting any amended plans.

Negotiating Submitted Applications - pdf - 139 Kb

Retrospective planning permission

In some cases if you have built something or made changes without permission you can apply for retrospective planning permission.