PRE-APPLICATION SERVICE GUIDANCE NOTES
The service is given on the following basis:
(a) The pre-application enquiry will not be registered until all the requisite information set out in
the form has been provided, including cleared payment of the applicable fee.
(b) All site visits (if applicable) will be carried out in advance of any meetings and will be
unaccompanied (see note (h) below)
(c) All discussions will relate only to the site and proposal set out in 3 and 4, respectively, of the
pre-application form.
(d) There is no prescribed time allocated to meetings as these will be dependent on the nature of
the proposal and its complexities. We would generally advise that for Service levels 3(b), 3(c),
4(b), 4(c), 6 and 8 meetings should not normally be longer than one hour. For any remaining
categories under which meetings are included, these may be up to 1.5-2 hours.
(e) Enquiries with a request for a site visit and/or meeting will be reviewed on a case by case
basis by the allocated Council Officer. In some instances, officers may decide that a meeting
and/or site visit is not necessary for the pre-application advice to be issued, in which case, a
partial refund of the fee will be issued to reflect the Service Level provided.
(f) The ultimate service will be at the discretion of the Council Officer. Services cannot be
required to be on a level incurring more fees to the applicant than that they request. However,
should it be considered that a higher fee service would be more appropriate this will be
discussed between the Officer and the applicant/agent.
(g) For pre-application enquiries regarding Reserved Matters application, the fee will relate to the
scale of development that would apply under an Outline application.
(h) The location of a meeting will be decided by the Council Officer. If a site visit has been
requested, a meeting can be held on site and this will incur the fee of both a meeting and site
visit as well as the letter to follow. Meetings can be held remotely at the discretion of the
Council Officer.
(i) For any arranged meetings, please provide in advance the names and role of each person
attending.
(j) There is no provision for meetings or site visits for the householder pre-application services.
This cannot be made through a voluntary payment of a higher fee at the express request of
the applicant/agent. Householder enquiries must relate to an existing property and alterations
to it; this includes provision of/alterations to dropped kerbs, enlargement/alteration of existing
residential properties, erection of outbuildings ancillary to the residential use and matters that
are deemed to be householder related development. If a proposal concerns more than one
residential property, the fee applicable relates to each property.
(k) There are no concessions or exemptions of fees for any pre-application service.
(l) Where an agent has been appointed by the applicant and their details included on the form,
they will be the Council Officer’s sole point of contact throughout the enquiry.
(m) Pre-application enquiries are allocated to Council Officers who are considered best to deal
with each case. Applicants/agents cannot request which officer they wish to be allocated to
their case.