News

April 2008: South Hams District Council brings in charges for Informal Pre-Planning Enquiries and for the discharge of Planning Conditions on planning consents.

Charging for Discharging of Planning Conditions

I am writing to inform you that as of the 6th April 2008, South Hams District Council are now charging for the discharging of planning conditions.

The charges, which were introduced under The Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications and Deemed Applications) Amendment) (England) Regulations 2008 are :-

• £25 for conditions relating to a householder request, that is those developments which fall under categories 6 and 7a of the amended fees regulation.
• £85 for requests relating to all other types of development.

The fee must be paid when the request is made, and cannot be sought retrospectively. Only the holder of the planning permission may apply. Each request received will incur a charge. Therefore, if there are a number of conditions attached to the planning permission, it will be best to include the information required for all of the conditions, rather than submitting the required information on an ad hoc basis. To confirm clearance of more conditions, a further request, and a further fee, would be required if the developer needs confirmation in writing. An additional request for re-confirmation that a revised detail achieves compliance with a condition would be charged as if it were the first such request; there is no discount or ‘free go’ in this context.

The request, identifying the permission and conditions concerned, can be made in any written form which is clear and legible.

If the planning officer fails to provide a response within a period of twelve weeks from the date on which the authority received the request, the application will be entitled to a full refund.

September 2008: Validation of Planning Applications. Section 15 of 1APP - Land Contamination Assessments.

Following complaints to South Hams District Council received from agents about their requirement that a land contamination report be provided with all applications for new dwellings, the council are writing to agents who have submitted a planning application to them since January 2007 to explain their rationale.

As part of the work needed to do in preparation for the introduction for the 1App form, and the associated need to set out the information the council require to validate applications, they re-examined national planning guidance with respect to land contamination. As a consequence, the council concluded that planning applications for housing, schools, nurseries and allotments should not be validated unless there is an accompanying land contamination assessment.

The planning guidance in PPS23 seems quite clear about requiring land contamination assessments for such applications not only on brown field sites, but also where the proposed use is particularly vulnerable to the presence of contamination. You may recall the phase “particularly vulnerable to the presence of contamination” forms part of the last of three questions in section 15 of the 1APP form.

Paragraph 2 of PPS23 specifically makes the point that :

• “contamination is not restricted to land with previous industrial uses, it can occur on greenfield as well as previously developed land and it can arise from natural sources as well as from human activities”;

The following additional quotes are taken from PPS23 Planning and Pollution Control, Annex 2: Development on Land Affected by Contamination:

Role of Owner/Developer
Paragraph 2.17 states “Where development is proposed, the developer is responsible for ensuring that development is safe and suitable for use for the purpose for which it is intended…. in particular, the developer should carry out an adequate investigation to inform a risk assessment…”

Planning Control
Paragraph 2.27 states “….the possibility of contamination should be assumed when considering …. individual planning applications …. where uses are being considered that are particularly sensitive to contamination – e.g. housing…”

Development Control
Paragraph 2.33 states “Where development is proposed on land that is or may be affected by contamination, an assessment of risk should be carried out by the applicant for consideration by the LPA before the application is determined… It is proposed to introduce a standard application form for all planning applications in England. Subject to the results of consultation, an assessment of contamination and historical uses of land is likely to one of the supporting documents that could accompany the form in appropriate cases”.

When to Consider Contamination
Paragraph 2.40 states “Because of the widespread potential occurrence of contamination, the possibility should always be considered regardless of past land use, when development is proposed involving….a particularly sensitive use such as housing with gardens, schools, nurseries and allotments”.

Information required from the Applicant
Paragraph 2.42 states “Where …the proposed use would be particularly vulnerable, LPAs should require the applicant to provide with the application such information as necessary to determine whether the proposed development can proceed. In doing so, they should adopt a balanced approach. It would be disproportionate and unnecessary to require every applicant to carry out a detailed and expensive site investigation. However sufficient information should be required to determine the existence or otherwise of contamination, its nature and risks it may pose and whether these can be reduced to an acceptable level. This will require a risk assessment that identifies the sources, pathways and receptors [pollutant linkages]”.

Paragraph 2.43 states “The minimum requirement that should be provided by the applicant is the report of a desk study and site reconnaissance”.

Paragraph 2.45 states “All investigations of land potentially affected by contamination should be carried out by or under the direction of a suitably qualified competent person and in accordance with BS10175 [2001] Code of practice for the investigation of potentially contaminated sites”.

From the above you will see that national planning guidance expects a land contamination assessment for planning applications where the proposed use is particularly vulnerable to contamination. The 1APP form makes this requirement explicit in section 15. There is no requirement for householder applications for works for an extension to a dwelling to submit a land contamination assessment.

The Validation of Planning Applications – Guidance for local planning authorities, December 2007 states in paragraph 19:

"The overall content of a list will be at the discretion of the local planning authority. However as a minimum where national policy requires the provision of certain information this must be specified on the list if it is relevant. For example, a flood risk assessment described in Planning Policy 25: Development and Flood Risk, must be provided in circumstances where it is a requirement”.

There are obvious parallels with PPS23, albeit land contamination assessments are likely to be required more frequently.

South Hams District Council is sorry if this re-examination of national policy has caused you or your clients any inconvenience, however this realignment to national policy and its subsequent consequence has been thoroughly researched.

The council has given careful consideration to agents’ concerns that the council’s actions are disproportionate to the level of likely risk in South Hams and that it is overly expensive to provide initial information at a time when there is no certainty that planning permission will be given. However, the council is forced to the conclusion that the level of risk just cannot be evaluated without a study of contamination in the vicinity, and this risk has to be understood when a planning decision is made so that appropriate mitigation can be set out.

If you would like to discuss these issues further please contact Pete Smith on extension 01803 861234 ext 1287 or Cassandra Hopkins on 01803 861234 ext 1411 at South Hams District Council.