Do I need planning permission (Pre-application advice)

General information on how to find out if planning (or any associated) permission is required, and general advice on the planning merits of a particular proposal, including works to a private dwellinghouse, links to the Duty Planning Officer page and the One-stop-shop form.

Pre-application/general advice

Not all development requires planning permission and sometimes it is possible to carry out work under permitted development rights. This is where the need for planning permission is not required because the work is classed as permitted development in accordance with the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development Order) 1995 (as amended). There are strict qualifying criteria for permitted development including whether the land or property in question actually has any permitted development rights.

The Council is committed to working with prospective applicants to improve the quality of planning submissions by offering pre-application advice. The Development Plan and the Council's Supplementary Planning Documents contain policies and advice which applicants should refer to before making an application.

The Council encourages prospective applicants to contact the Development Control team to discuss their proposals before making an application. There is currently no charge for providing this service.

Pre-Application Advice is promoted through Planning Policy Statement 1:

'Pre-Application discussions are critically important and benefit both developers and local planning authorities in ensuring a better mutual understanding of objectives and the constraints that exist. In the course of such discussions proposals can be adapted to ensure that they better reflect community aspirations and that applications are complete and address all the relevant issues. Local planning authorities and applicants should take a positive attitude towards early engagement in pre-application discussions so that formal applications can be dealt with in a more certain and speedy manner and the quality of decisions can be better assured.'

Pre-application advice is available to anyone who is thinking about submitting an application to Oadby and Wigston Borough Council. However, we do not provide a design service. It is highly likely that you will need to employ the services of a professional architect or plan drawer if you need help with the design of a scheme.

The benefits of pre-application advice can include:

1. It gives you an opportunity to understand how our policies will be applied to your development and you can identify potential problems and sort them out before an application is submitted. This can help prevent costly and time-consuming amendments to schemes later.
2. It may indicate that a proposal has little or no realistic chance of success, thus saving you considerable time and money.
3. It may lead to a reduction in time spent by your professional advisers in working up the proposals in more detail.
4. It can identify at an early stage whether any specialist advice is necessary - for example about listed buildings, trees, landscape, transport, ecology or archaeology.
5. We can discuss with you details of the proposal, such as its design and the materials to be used. This can help you prepare a better planning application so we can process it more quickly and give you a decision sooner.
6. Identify opportunities for scheme improvements at a stage when a proposal can still be modified, resulting in higher quality developments.
7. Significantly increase the likelihood of gaining planning permission.
8. Avoid delays as a result of changes, amendments or unforeseen issues.
9. Learn about Planning Obligations (known as Section 106 Agreements that are sometimes applicable to minor and major application).
10. Help ensure any relevant Section 106 Agreement is completed in time.

The Council operates a Duty Planning Officer scheme. The Duty Planning Officer will be available to deal with professional enquiries (either by telephone or in person at reception)

If you are seeking pre-application advice on larger scale schemes please note that this is not available via the Duty Planning Officer service as it is highly likely that a more detailed consideration of the proposal will be required involving other internal or external partners. For such advice you will need to submit a written request to the Development Control team together with appropriate details of the site and the proposal.

You can contact the Development Control team through the contact details on the left hand side of this page.

For both e-mail and written enquiries please try to give as much information as possible, such as a location plan and any other relevant plans/sketches including dimensions in metres. We will endeavour to respond within 15 working days.

To assist in the process, the Council has developed a One stop shop development enquiry form.

One Stop Shop Form (PDF Document, 70.66 Kb)

If you require planning permission the appropriate forms can be downloaded from the How to make an application web page.

Works to a private dwellinghouse or within its curtilage.

Central Government has made provision for certain works within the curtilage of a dwelling house to not need planning permission from the Local Planning Authority. This provision is known as 'permitted development' rights. However, in some instances the Local Planning Authority may have imposed a planning condition removing these rights - which means that planning permission would be required (but there is currently no fee payable to the Local Planning Authority to consider the application). You are therefore strongly advised to check whether any proposed extensions/alterations or outbuildings (including sheds, conservatories and car ports) require permission from the Local Planning Authority before you carry out any works.

The permitted development rights for private dwellinghouses were last amended in October 2008. A copy of Statutory Instrument which amended the 1995 version of the General Permitted Development Order can be downloaded below. Central Government has also produced a helpful interpretation document to the legislation.

Statutory Instrument 2008: 2362 (PDF Document, 120.98 Kb)

Technical Guidance - Permitted Development for Householders (PDF Document, 250.34 Kb)

Further guidance can be obtained from Oadby and Wigston Borough Council using the One-stop-shop form (above) or by contacting the Duty Planning Officer.

The Planning Portal has useful interactive house guides which gives further advice on the interpretation of the legislation.