Ministerial guidelines
Development Management: Guidelines for Planning Authorities
Practice in handling planning applications: pre-application meetings, the planner's report and planning conditions.
Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government · June 2007 · 101 pages
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- this and in particular reminded that the planning authority is obliged to take into account, in determining any subsequent application, submissions which may be received from third parties and prescribed bodies. 2.5 Section 247 consultations Section 247 of the Planning Act provides that an applicant who has an interest in land may request a pre-application consultation regarding a proposed development and that the planning authority should not unreasonably withhold agreement to enter into such a consultation. More often than not an applicant who seeks a more formal consultation, of the type envisaged by section 247, will seek a face-to-face meeting with a planner. Accordingly section 247 consultations will frequently take the form of individual meetings held between planning officials and applicants/agents. However there may be instances where both the applicant and the authority are happy to carry out such a consultation without a face-to-face meeting, e.g. over the telephone or by e-mail correspondence: the Act does not preclude this. For a consultation to be deemed a section 247 consultation, the Planning Act requires that the applicant has an interest in the land concerned and that he/she wishes to consult about a particular proposed development. The Planning Act also provides that in a section 247 consultation the planning authority must advise on: ¾ The procedures involved in considering a planning application; ¾ Any requirements of the permission regulations e.g. site and newspaper notices, documentation to be forwarded including maps, drawings and EIS where required; ¾ The relevant objectives of the development plan. The Act also provides, most importantly, that a record must be kept of a section 247 consultation and that the record should be associated with the planning application file, should an application be made subsequently. The Act allows planning authorities to meet their obligations in relation to section 247 consultations by means of planning clinics where planning officials meet the public with or without appointment. If the planning authority decides to carry out pre-application consultations under section 247 in the form of planning clinics, it must publish notice of the times and locations where discussions are to be held in one or more newspapers circulating in its area at least once a year. Not every face-to-face meeting at a planning clinic will constitute a section 247 consultation, as the potential applicant may merely be seeking some general advice. However, where the potential applicant wishes to consult about a specific proposed development on a 20
- specific site, this brings the consultation under section 247 of the Act and the requirements of the section should be adhered to, in particular in relation to keeping a written record of the discussion. As stated above, requests for consultations should be facilitated as speedily as possible so that where a meeting with the area planner is requested, such a meeting should ideally be arranged within 2-3 weeks. Where the area planner is unavailable, arrangements should be made to provide a properly briefed substitute; the keeping of full, detailed notes of the consultation will be important in such circumstances. It should be noted that, in addition to other requirements of the ethics code10 a member or official of the planning authority is guilty of an offence if he or she takes or seeks any favour, benefit or payment, directly or indirectly, in connection with any consultation or advice provided under section 247. 2.6 Submission of details in advance of consultations To ensure that a consultation will be productive, the applicant may be required to submit a certain minimum level of documentation (depending on the scale of the proposal) in advance of a pre-application consultation. A guidance document in relation to such requirements should be available on the planning authority's website, which lists the range of maps, drawing types/scales and other details normally required in relation to different categories of site and development proposal. The guidance should also state the period in advance of the meeting that the documentation will require to be submitted. 2.7 Pre-application meetings: who should attend? This will depend on the nature and scale of the proposed development, but as a general rule: ¾ Senior planning staff should attend in the case of large-scale or complex developments, or where the site has given rise to significant issues in the past; ¾ Representatives from all relevant local authority sections/departments (e.g. traffic or sanitary services engineers) should attend in the case of large-scale or complex proposals. This not only saves the applicant time in arranging a series of consultations, but perhaps more importantly, facilitates a coordinated approach by the authority; the detailed technical requirements of one department may have consequences for the layout or design that affects other departments. 10 Local Government Act 2001: Code of Conduct for Employees (DEHLG, 2004). 21
- ¾ Both Housing and Planning representatives need to be involved in pre-application meetings involving Part V of the Planning Act (see para. 2.10 below); ¾ Heritage/conservation officers should be involved in cases involving protected structures, zones or sites of archaeological interest, and protected sites (such as Natural Heritage Areas or Special Protected Areas). Planning authorities should ensure the availability of suitably sized and located meeting rooms to facilitate consultations. 2.8 How should a pre-application meeting be structured? The aim of both parties should be to identify any potential issues arising from a development proposal at a sufficiently early stage in the design process in order to avoid needless delays and/or costs after an application has been lodged. If it is clear from the development plan that the proposal is acceptable in principle, especially in the case of relatively small developments, the prospective applicant may be encouraged to bring reasonably detailed design drawings to the consultation. Planning authorities will know from experience what issues are likely to arise in the case of the most common types of development in their areas and will be able to advise prospective applicants in advance on the kind of information which will be needed if consultations are to be productive. For example, in the case of rural housing, applicants should be able to demonstrate that the proposed site can satisfactorily accommodate drainage, can be accessed safely without creating a traffic hazard and can be sensitively incorporated into the landscape. In the case of larger proposed developments, or where it is not certain that the proposal would be acceptable, it is important that issues of principle be resolved before proceeding to more detailed design issues. In such cases, the proponent should clearly explain the rationale for the proposed development. Equally, the planning officer will need to be explicit about what are “sticking points” from a development plan viewpoint. Relevant national policy which applies to the development should also be explained. While both sides should endeavour to find a constructive solution to problems, in some cases it may not be possible to reconcile the two positions. In such a case, it may be necessary for the planning authority to indicate that the proposal is unlikely to be considered favourably. 22
- 2.9 Keeping a record of what was discussed As indicated above, section 247 of the Planning Act requires the planning authority to keep a written record of pre-application consultations under the section, including the names of those who participated. A copy of such record (and any documentation submitted) must be retained and placed on the planning file in the event of a subsequent planning application in respect of the proposed development. It will be necessary for the planning authority to have in place for records of pre-application consultation an appropriate filing system, that may be easily queried/searched when a planning application is received. As records of pre-application consultation form part of the planning file, they also should be forwarded to the Board in the event of an appeal. The clear intention behind the requirement to keep a record is to inform those involved in determining any subsequent application, particularly if they were not directly involved in the prior consultation. The keeping of records can also ensure consistency of approach in situations where staff turnover is an issue or where the particular development proposal has a long time-span. Key information which should be recorded includes: ¾ The postal address (where available) or an accurate description of the location. Ideally, if the planning authority has a Geographic Information System, the co-ordinates of a point within the site, or the site boundaries, should be digitised so that it can be easily traced in the event of a subsequent application; ¾ An indication of the area of the site; ¾ A succinct description of the nature and scale of the proposed development (e.g. number of housing units, or amount of floor space); ¾ A list of the documentation submitted describing the proposal; ¾ An indication of whether the proposal is in accordance with the development plan; ¾ An indication of whether key design or other issues remained to be resolved; ¾ An indication of whether further specialist advice is required (e.g. from the Heritage Service of the DEHLG); ¾ An indication of whether an environmental or retail impact statement is mandatory or likely to be needed. Where design team acting for the prospective developer submits its own account of the consultation, this should also be kept with the file. It would be important to draw attention to any significant errors or misunderstandings at 23
- the earliest opportunity, particularly if the prospects for a successful application were overestimated. Best practice example Limerick County Council uses a computerised system to keep detailed records of all pre-planning consultations held in the Council. Notes of the consultation are linked to the Council’s GIS to facilitate retrieval later, and any documents handed over at the meeting are scanned in. The system can also track the time taken from the request for a consultation to the date when the consultation takes place. Management structures need to be put in place to inform applicants whether, when the planning application is received, there has to be a material departure from the approach adopted by the planning authority at the preapplication consultation. Such a departure might be required if the subsequent application is substantially different from that originally discussed, or if planning authority needs to respond to valid issues raised by the public or by statutory consultees following submission of the application11. 2.10 Part V consultations The role of pre-application discussions in negotiating agreements for the provision of social and affordable housing required under Part V of the 2000 Planning Act (as amended by the 2002 Act) is discussed in Chapter 10 of Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000 – Housing Supply: Guidelines for Planning Authorities (DELGH 2000) 12. Key points include: ¾ The need to develop a shared approach between the applicant and the planning authority (and an approved housing body, where relevant); ¾ The need for the planning authority to have regard to the objectives set out in its Housing Strategy; ¾ The need for the planning authority to have regard to the overall coherence of the proposed development and to the views of the 11 See also Chapter 6 on making recommendations on planning applications. 12 See also Implementation Issues (DEHLG, 2002), Further Guidance on Implementation Issues (DEHLG, 2003), Part V Resource Pack – Concluding Part V Agreements (DEHLG and Affordable Homes Partnership, 2006) and DEHLG Circular AHS 4/06, November 2006. 24
- developer in relation to the impact of the proposed agreement on the development; ¾ The importance of arranging joint planning and housing teams to negotiate Part V agreements. Where they are available, local authority architects should be also involved to ensure the design quality of the housing to be handed over to the authority; ¾ The importance of recording the essential elements of the proposed agreement. Further guidance on Part V implementation issues, set out in Circular AHS 4/0613, emphasises the importance of undertaking pre-planning consultations on Part V and sets out advice on how a range of matters relating to Part V should be dealt with efficiently in the planning process. 2.11 Pre-auction consultations When a development site is put up for auction, prospective purchasers may seek consultations with the planning authority before making a bid. Such prospective purchasers should instead be referred to relevant information, such as development plan zoning objectives, specific local objectives, local area plans etc. and should be encouraged to seek independent professional advice. Prospective purchasers will not in any case have a legal interest in the land and their plans will probably not be sufficiently advanced to engage in pre-planning discussions. Pre-application consultations could of course be arranged with the new purchaser after the site has been sold and the development proposals have been advanced. In very specific instances, for example in the case of sites of high priority for the planning authority in relation to the need for urban renewal or large greenfield sites, the planning authority or the seller or auctioneer may consider it appropriate to prepare a development brief listing the authority’s objectives for the site, and to make this brief available to all interested parties. 13 Part V of the Planning and Development Acts 2000 - 2006; Implementation Issues (DEHLG, 2006) 25
- Chapter 3 Lodgement and Validation of a Planning Application 3.1 Introduction In order to improve the efficiency and transparency of the planning system, the Planning and Development Act 2000 and subsequent Regulations made a number of changes to the development management process. Following these changes, the applicant needs to focus on ensuring that the requirements of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001-2007 are complied with when making a planning application (that is, on the need to make a valid application) and the planning authority needs to focus on managing the validation system in an efficient, helpful and fair manner. Where a planning application complies with the Planning Regulations it is declared valid and continues to be processed; when the Regulations are not complied with, the application is declared invalid and returned to the applicant in its entirety. 3.2 Information required in making a planning application When lodging a planning application the applicant will be required to submit specific information that is statutorily required to validate the application, and may be required to provide other information necessary in that particular case in order to assess the application. Article 22 sets out the information that is statutorily required to validate a planning application. The validation process will be facilitated by the introduction of the standard application form, which will be used by all planning authorities. The application form when fully and correctly completed, and accompanied by the plans and particulars required under the Planning Regulations, will constitute a valid application. There may be other information that is required for assessment, but not for validation, of a planning application. The additional details needed will obviously depend on the type of development proposed. For example, a planning authority might require information on the transport implications of a proposed development or on proposals for open space and landscaping details in a major development. Planning authorities should ensure as far as possible, by dissemination of information at pre-planning consultation stage, in planning leaflets and on their websites, that applicants are aware of the information that is required in order to assess their particular proposals. It is in the applicant’s interest to ensure that any information required for assessment, as opposed to validation, is submitted with the application, as this will enable the planning authority to reach a conclusive decision without the need for an additional information request. 26
- There will of course be occasions where despite every effort being made to ensure that the applicant is clear as to what information the planning authority requires, gaps will occur, which will necessitate a request for additional information. When this happens, it should be made obvious to the applicant why the information is required and how it is relevant to the assessment of the planning application. 3.3 Statutory validation requirements Article 26 sets out the procedure to be followed when validating a planning application and indicates that the application must comply with Articles 18, 19(1)(a) 22 and, as may be appropriate, Article 24 or 25. 3.4 Purpose of public notices The purpose of the notices, that is, the newspaper notice (Article 18 of the Planning Regulations) and the site notice (Article 19), is to inform the public of the proposed development and alert them as to its nature and extent. Third parties may then examine the files in detail at the planning office (or on the authority’s website, where applications are put on the website) and, if they so wish, may lodge a submission or objection. In recent years the amount of detail in the public notice has increased continuously to the extent that such notices frequently include every detail of the proposed development, rather than comprising a brief description of the proposed development. This level of detail is unnecessary and can cause confusion. In order to clarify the issues around the content of the public notice the Planning and Development Regulations 2006 amended Article 18 and Schedule 3, Form No. 1, to provide that the public notices should give “a brief description” of the nature and extent of a proposed development. The public notice should therefore be drafted so as to give a brief indication as to the nature and extent of the proposed development and is not required to go into excessive detail. As a rule of thumb, a notice is not required to include details that can reasonably be assumed to be part of a normal part of development. The Regulations also prescribe the level of information required in different circumstances, for example, they prescribe that in a residential scheme the notice must indicate the numbers of houses to be provided, or that if works are to be carried out to a protected structure this must be stated. Otherwise a common-sense approach to informing the public of the nature and extent of the development should be applied. For example, in the case of a normal domestic extension there is no need to specify the internal usage of the rooms. Or, to take another example, if the notice makes plain that the application is for a block of 10 apartments, it should not be deemed invalid because it does not state that some of the proposed apartments have balconies. On the other hand, it is important that the notice does give a brief description of the nature and extent of the development: a notice which simply states that the application is for a “modification to Planning Permission ref xx/xxx” does not comply with this requirement to give a brief description of the 27
- nature and extent of the development and should instead include a brief description of the proposed modification, as well as the reference number of the original permission. 3.5 Newspaper notice As stated in the previous paragraphs the purpose of this notice is to inform the public. Article 18(2) requires that the planning authority, at least annually, reviews the list of approved newspapers for planning application notices in its local area and displays such a list in its office(s), or at any other place or by any other means, e.g. on their websites, as the authority considers appropriate. The newspaper notice, and similarly the site notice, is required to be placed within the period of 2 weeks prior to the making of the application. In calculating these time limits, and all time limits specified in the legislation, periods are calculated by reference to the Interpretation Act 1937 and are reckoned to include the day from which the period is to run. Thus, a week will run from Tuesday in one week to Monday of the following week. Accordingly, if the site and newspaper notices are placed on a Thursday, the planning application must be received in the planning authority before the end of the following Wednesday week. The date of the making of the application is the date it is received in the planning authority. Where the last day of the 2 week period referred to in the preceding paragraph is a Saturday, Sunday, a public holiday or any other day on which the offices of the planning authority are closed, the application will be valid if it is received on the next following day on which the offices of the planning authority are open. 3.6 Site notice Article 19(1) specifies the validation requirements for the site notice, the format of which was modified in the 2006 Regulations. Again, the issue is one of informing the public and a reasonable approach has to be taken to the location of the site notice(s) on the lands. The Planning Regulations require the site notice to be in the prescribed form or a form “substantially to the like effect”. The notice is not therefore required to be identical to the prescribed form – whether is it is substantially the same will be a matter for the judgement of the planning authority. Obviously the Courts would be the final arbiters in any dispute, but from a common sense point of view, a planning authority that invalidated a site notice which did not contain the words “site notice” but was in all other respects identical to the prescribed form, might be regarded as having been over-exacting. 28
- For major developments which cover large areas of land, appropriate placement of site notices, to ensure maximum public awareness, should be discussed at pre-application consultation stage. In some instances there will be an issue over retaining the site notice on site. While the onus is on the applicant to maintain the notice on the site for the required period, the application will not be deemed invalid if other persons remove it maliciously, provided that the planning authority is satisfied that the applicant has made a bona fide effort to maintain it. The planning authority must ensure that all site notices are inspected within 5 weeks of receipt of the application. The inspection should be carried out at the earliest possible date and the person carrying out the inspection should report back to the planning section/department as soon as possible; this is to facilitate the efficient working of the development management process and to avoid unnecessary delays in dealing with planning applications. Best Practice Example Clonmel Borough Council sends a technician to undertake the site notice inspection as soon as possible after receipt of the application. 2 photographs are taken of the site notice, one up close and one wider angle photograph showing the context of the location of the site notice in relation to the proposed development site. Both photographs are placed on the application file as a record. A yellow notice is required when a valid planning application is made on any land or structure, within six months from the date of making a previous application, where the second application is in respect of land substantially consisting of the site or part of the site to which the first application related. 3.7 Planning application form A standard planning application form was introduced in the Planning and Development Regulations 2006. The form is quite detailed and notes on its completion are included in the document. Circular Letter PD 4/07 recommends use of a revised format of the form, to meet concerns expressed by the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (See para. 5.3 below). 3.8 Application documentation Article 22 of the Planning Regulations and the application form sets out the documentation that is required to accompany a planning application, i.e. the notices, the location/layout plans, the plans and particulars required to 29
Source Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government: Development Management: Guidelines for Planning Authorities (June 2007) · Licence the publisher's termsText read from the publisher’s PDF; tables, maps and drawings do not survive as text, and page numbers are the PDF’s (its first page is 1). Check the original before relying on a passage.