Sally Posted April 7, 2022 Share Posted April 7, 2022 Does anyone have any experience of going for a pre planning meeting with the local council. Did you do the preparations yourselves or get help for professional drawings, 2D or 3D digital images, and what was your verdict of the process and outcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvin Posted April 7, 2022 Share Posted April 7, 2022 Check that you local council will do pre planning meetings. Some will some will not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperPav Posted April 7, 2022 Share Posted April 7, 2022 Worth it for the information/detail/level of owrk you get out of it for your £500 or whatever fee? No. Worth it for the proactive engagement that it enables, for you to subsequently reference in your application and tweak the proposal with associated goodwill? Yes. Our pre-planning application was an utter joke and resulted in complaints and a refund as they were so useless. However, eventually I had a meeting with another planning officer and a conservation officer, both of who were very good, and went over a few options we'd laid out for the proposal. They expressed preference for some of the layout and details and materials in one or the other, and that basically meant that when we did the final submission, we did it in such a way that ticked all the boxes of what they wanted. This meant we had much less back and forth on contentious points throughout the actual planning application, and resulted in a straightforward approval. It does depend on the proposal though and how complex or contentious it is from a policy point of view. For small/easy schemes etc., it's cheaper and arguably easier to just whack in an application, and treat it as the "pre-application" if it gets rejected and you need to resubmit a freebie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenP Posted April 7, 2022 Share Posted April 7, 2022 Hard to tell. We regularly submit pre-applications here (architects) - some are useless and others are gold. It can really depend on whose desk it lands on too. For my own house we received an eight page response and some nice design suggestions which is responded positively too. It helped wrap up the narrative and we obtained permission after 5 weeks. On the flip side we are working on projects at the moment where we have heard nothing for 3 months and the LA are no longer accepting new pre-applications. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted April 7, 2022 Share Posted April 7, 2022 No In my experience they only send you generic answers Pretty much what is already online Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conor Posted April 7, 2022 Share Posted April 7, 2022 Ours was a waste of time. "Please refer to the guidence" etc etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted April 7, 2022 Share Posted April 7, 2022 17 minutes ago, Conor said: Ours was a waste of time. "Please refer to the guidence" etc etc. You have just described ours 😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyshouse Posted April 7, 2022 Share Posted April 7, 2022 Where I am if you for pp advice you loose the determination date Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sally Posted April 7, 2022 Author Share Posted April 7, 2022 My council want about £3,000 for the pre planning and its not an amount Im comfortable with wasting if it turns out that way. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzz Posted April 7, 2022 Share Posted April 7, 2022 11 minutes ago, Sally said: My council want about £3,000 for the pre planning and its not an amount Im comfortable with wasting if it turns out that way. What £3K !!!!!! ours charges £50 for a single dwelling. And as above is still £49 to much for what you get in return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesP Posted April 7, 2022 Share Posted April 7, 2022 No, In my experience dealing with a National Park. And back then it was free. Our first application was then refused which in retrospect worked in our favour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted April 7, 2022 Share Posted April 7, 2022 1 hour ago, Buzz said: What £3K !!!!!! ours charges £50 for a single dwelling. And as above is still £49 to much for what you get in return. I was robbed Ours was £60 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freshy Posted April 7, 2022 Share Posted April 7, 2022 Our pre-app was a waste of time & money. We had a very positive conversation during the site visit however, the formal response we got didn't reflect what was dicussed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilgrim Posted April 8, 2022 Share Posted April 8, 2022 For my extension and drop kerb proposal the pre application was useless, it just repeated what I had written for 2 pages and then summed up with "applications of this nature are generally favourable" I've submitted the full plans now so we will see what the real verdict is. I submitted fully detailed 2D and 3D plans and photos of the area at the pre application stage. In future I wouldnt bother, it cost me £75 and the full application was only £206, but I guess your full application fees will be a lot higher if pre application is £3k! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadgerBadger Posted April 8, 2022 Share Posted April 8, 2022 Our build was always going to get lots of neighbour objections, and be somewhat subject to the interpretation of the conservation officer. We submitted a very detailed design to pre-app and the conservation officer requested lots of design changes but the pre-app let us deal with all that without the neighbour scrutiny. We addressed the concerns and submitted a full application - it attracted the objections we expected - but sailed through without any further changes. It cost as much as a full application, and took longer, but was worth it for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted April 8, 2022 Share Posted April 8, 2022 18 hours ago, Sally said: Does anyone have any experience of going for a pre planning meeting with the local council. ... Yes. We did. And it was worth it because without the advice given, our application would in all likelihood have been rejected. In general, I would say that its as worth it as the effort you put in before the planner's feedback. In other words, we made it worthwhile. We had put in hours of preparation in part because we knew that our application would attract pushback from the locals. Before the meeting, lots of time was spent on looking at local successful applications, and rejections. The latter helped us more because we had a good 'feel' for what was and was not acceptable. But most of all, it was useful because fore-warned is fore-armed. We 'knew' the planner by reading his decisions. We knew what he had accepted - and what he hadn't. We didn't make ourselves an easy target for dismissive feedback (if it had been offered). And now - a few years later - every single one of those who objected to our application - but themselves had land suitable for building - have all built two or three houses on their land. Two of them were active local Councillors. Silent now. If you can, know the planner to whom you are going to talk. Go through all of his (her) decisions in detail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wumpus Posted April 8, 2022 Share Posted April 8, 2022 We went through the pre-app process and would do so again. The meeting itself was very short and we never did get written feedback, but took copious notes. The value we gained was being able to reference comments from the planning officer in our reserved matters submission, showing that we had acted on the feedback given. As an example, the planning officer wanted less glazing than the initial plans. We reduced by a small amount that we did not miss but were able to comment that we had reduced based on comments at the pre app discussion. Similarly the modern style of the house was supported at the meeting, so we commented that in the planning submission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassanclan Posted April 8, 2022 Share Posted April 8, 2022 Remember that when you submit a planning application you can withdraw it and resubmit for free 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shire2020 Posted April 18, 2022 Share Posted April 18, 2022 We’ve used it twice and found it to be well worth the money. For the latest application for a large extension we had the architect prepare some basic drawings so we could get detailed feedback. Overall detailed feedback, helpful conversation and we followed most of the advice. They did advise on a slightly smaller extension but we put it in anyway, being prepared to adjust if needed but because we’d made the other changes they passed it. Reading the comments it does sound variable by council but for us it’s been great. Good Luck!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgewood Posted April 30, 2022 Share Posted April 30, 2022 So far our experience has been that it was worth it…..they have highlighted things that they would want us to address (which we’re happy to do), as well as preferred materials/finish (we asked for advice on this and again we are happy with their recommendations)….They want to do a site visit too, but the letter does close by saying that if all things addressed it would receive a “recommendation for approval”….so, let’s see! What are other people’s experiences? Has anybody ever addressed the required points and still been refused, or is it pretty much a given that if you address what they want it will go through? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeDub Posted September 24, 2022 Share Posted September 24, 2022 We had a Planning Consultant submit a Pre-Application for us during Covid. We had an online Zoom meeting with the Planning Officer. He was employed by our local council, but actually lived over 200 miles away! He didn't know the area but researched everything online, he probably did more background work than if he was local. He was really good and very helpful. He basically gave us the blueprint for our application! Everything he said in his response got approved. In respect of our planning Consultant, that was a waste of money at over £4k. Their drawings were a photograph of the existing buildings edited in paint and what I can only describe as a cartoon of a house superimposed over the top. At the time I engaged them I was completely ignorant of Planning and how it works. Inspired by their pathetic efforts, and quote of over £10k for a full submission, I believed could do a better job myself. So that's what I did and received full Consent yesterday for a house, annex, stables / barn, 3 Bay cart lodge, large pond. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBub Posted September 26, 2022 Share Posted September 26, 2022 It would be worth checking if your LPA offer a duty planning service. Some will offer advice over the phone or with an in-person meeting and can give informal advice on your proposed development/drawings. There is no charge for the duty service, but not all councils provide it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilly Posted September 26, 2022 Share Posted September 26, 2022 Read this post very carefully it explains what they are looking for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlieKLP Posted September 26, 2022 Share Posted September 26, 2022 The only reason I’ve ever recommended one is when a customer wouldn’t listen to me that they wouldn’t get planning. I mainly did it so they would go away. in terms of cost you get far more for much cheaper by putting something half decent and considered in for full planning. the planners give you feedback, and probably a free go anyway, so why wouldn’t you just go in for that? Preplanning gives you zero confirmation of anything really, maybe points you towards relevant policies but I can find those for you as a layman. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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