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Pre-application planning advice service

What is pre-application advice? 

Our optional pre-application advice service is for householders, businesses and developers: we offer advice specific to your proposal, explaining changes that might be required and giving your plan the best chance of approval. 

We can help you from the first design stages, providing guidance on any changes that are needed, to support your formal planning submission.  

Our pre-application advice does not include a design service. We recommend you work with an architect if you need help with the design of a scheme. 

Benefits of pre-application advice 

Pre-application advice includes:

  • explaining how planning policies and other legal requirements affect your project 
  • identifying potential problems early on and working with you to find solutions or identifying proposals that would not be approved by our planning team 
  • telling you at an early stage whether you’ll need specialist advice or surveys 
  • helping you reduce the risk of submitting an invalid application 
  • helping you save time and money on plans and fees by advising if your proposal is likely to be acceptable 

Some categories of pre-application advice include a meeting with your dedicated Planning Officer to discuss your project. At this stage, you may not have an agent - but officers will still be able to discuss your proposal with you. However, for more detailed discussions you may wish to ask an agent to represent you.

We also offer a Fast Track planning service, which can be used with our pre-application advice service. Fast Track and pre-application advice services are optional. You can submit a planning application without using them. 

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