Frequently asked planning questions

We advise across the whole planning process — pre-application and feasibility, planning applications, appeals, planning conditions and obligations, land promotion, representations and objections, stakeholder engagement, and nationally significant infrastructure projects. We help homeowners, developers, landowners and businesses.

Often, yes. A pre-application enquiry tests the principle of your proposal with the council before you commit to a full application, and can surface issues early while they are still cheap to resolve. We advise when it is worthwhile and prepare the submission for you.

Yes. Where we believe a refusal is wrong, we advise on and prepare appeals to the Planning Inspectorate, and we also weigh up whether a revised application is the stronger route. Clients have come to us after an unsuccessful application elsewhere and gone on to secure permission.

No. We work on everything from householder applications through to major and nationally significant schemes, and tailor the level of support to the project.

It depends on the site and the proposal, but common requirements include ecological surveys, an Environmental Impact Assessment for larger or more sensitive schemes, heritage assessments near listed buildings or conservation areas, and landscape and visual assessments. We coordinate the right package so nothing holds up your application.

Where protected species or habitats could be affected, councils usually expect ecological survey work before they determine an application. Timing matters — some surveys can only be carried out at certain times of year — so it is worth planning these in early.

An EIA is a formal assessment of the likely significant environmental effects of larger or more sensitive developments, reported in an Environmental Statement submitted with the application. We advise whether your scheme needs one and manage the process.

Yes. We have an in-house Landscape Architect who can prepare landscaping schemes, visualisations and, where needed, a full Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment.

Most applications need an accurate set of scaled drawings — typically a location plan, a site or block plan, and existing and proposed floor plans and elevations. Our plan drawer prepares these to the standard councils expect, from your ideas or from measured information.

You are likely to need one if your site falls within a higher flood risk zone, or is above a certain size, or where surface water drainage is a concern. We prepare Flood Risk and Drainage Assessments to support your application.

Yes. Our engineers can undertake technical surveys and assessments, including topographical and geotechnical surveys, that planning and related applications often require.

Yes. We regularly work up formal, scaled drawings from rough sketches or ideas so they are ready to submit.

Not always — many smaller extensions fall under permitted development rights, which allow you to extend without a full planning application provided strict limits on size, height and position are met. Those limits change if your home is in a conservation area, an AONB or the green belt, or if permitted development rights have been removed from your property. The safest first step is a check of your property's planning history and constraints — something we do at the start of every residential job.

Class Q is a permitted development right that allows certain agricultural buildings to be converted to homes without a full planning application, subject to a prior approval process covering matters such as structure, access, noise and flood risk. The rules are detailed and councils apply them carefully, so a well-prepared submission makes a real difference. See our Class Q barn conversion case study on this page.

Councils aim to decide householder applications within eight weeks of validation, though timescales vary with workload and whether issues arise during consultation. A complete, well-evidenced submission — accurate drawings, the right supporting statements, constraints addressed up front — gives the council fewer reasons to pause the clock.

Yes. We review the refusal reasons and advise honestly on the best route: a revised application that addresses the council's concerns, or an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate where we believe the decision is wrong. Clients have come to us after unsuccessful applications elsewhere and gone on to secure permission.

We are based near Harrogate and work throughout North Yorkshire, the East Riding and the wider Yorkshire region — including Harrogate, Knaresborough, York, Ripon, Skipton, Beverley and the surrounding districts.

It depends on the existing and proposed uses. Many business uses now sit within Use Class E, and movement within a use class generally doesn't need permission; changes between classes often do, and some changes benefit from permitted development rights subject to conditions. Getting this judgement right at the outset avoids enforcement risk later — it's one of the most common questions we resolve for commercial clients.

Usually, yes. A pre-application enquiry gives you the council's view on the principle of development before you spend on a full submission, and it can flag information requirements — highways, drainage, noise — that would otherwise surface late. We prepare pre-application packages and attend meetings with the council on your behalf.

Councils target eight weeks for minor applications and thirteen weeks for major ones, from validation. Complex schemes can take longer, particularly where technical consultees are involved. Early preparation of the supporting evidence is the best way to protect your programme.

Yes. Most permissions come with pre-commencement conditions that must be discharged before work starts. We prepare and submit the discharge applications and coordinate any specialist input needed.

Yes — and the route depends on scale. Most schemes go through the local council as planning applications, while the largest projects are consented as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) through a Development Consent Order examined by the Planning Inspectorate. We have worked on both routes, including an NSIP from its inception.

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) screening is the formal process for deciding whether a project needs a full environmental statement. Energy schemes above certain thresholds, or in sensitive locations, are screened by the council or the Inspectorate. We prepare screening requests and coordinate the environmental work where an assessment is required.

Before signing anything, it's worth understanding the planning prospects of your land — what the development plan says, what constraints apply, and what the consenting route would be. That picture affects the value of any agreement. We provide independent planning appraisals for landowners in exactly this position.

Consultation requirements scale with the project. NSIPs have statutory pre-application consultation duties; local applications rely on the council's notification processes, though developers often consult voluntarily. Done well, early engagement surfaces concerns while the design can still respond to them — we help clients plan and run that engagement.

Often, but not always. Industrial premises benefit from permitted development rights that allow limited extensions and new plant subject to size and siting conditions; anything beyond those limits needs an application. We establish which side of the line your proposal falls on before any money is spent on drawings.

Highways and HGV movements, noise and odour, drainage and flood risk, landscape impact, and relationships with nearby homes are the recurring themes. Each usually needs its own technical evidence. We scope and coordinate that evidence so the application lands complete.

Yes — we prepare applications to discharge conditions, vary them where they no longer fit how the site operates, and advise where an operation has outgrown its original consent.

Councils commonly require landscaping details for new buildings, larger extensions and any development in sensitive settings — either with the application or as a condition to discharge afterwards. Because our Landscape Architect works alongside our planners, the landscape scheme is designed with the planning case in mind from day one.

An LVIA is a structured assessment of how a development would change the landscape and how visible it would be — often required for schemes in the countryside or near designated landscapes. We also prepare Zone of Theoretical Visibility (ZTV) studies, which map where a proposed development could be seen from.

Yes. We prepare the planting plans and specifications councils expect and submit the discharge application — a common, quick piece of work that unblocks a start on site.