Lewes District Council

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Planning
Lewes District Council
Southover House
Southover Road
Lewes
East Sussex
BN7 1AB

Tel: 01273 484420
planning@lewes.gov.uk
Fax: 01273 484452
Minicom 01273 484488

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Pre-application Planning Advice

We can provide a range of pre-application advice for all types of development.

Pre-application advice is provided free of charge, other than for major development proposals that involve 10 or more dwellings, or development of more than 1000 square metres of floorspace.

Minor development proposals

We offer two levels of advice:

Advice on whether planning permission is required for your proposal or if it meets the criteria for permitted development.  Proposed development is assessed against the relevant Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order to determine whether a planning application is required.

If permission is required we can advise if it complies with National and Local planning policy and whether an application is likely to be approved or refused.  This provides the opportunity to discuss the suitability of the proposal and if necessary, revise proposals prior to the submission of a formal application. This service can improve the quality of applications and speed up the determination process.

Contacting us

In general we do not carry out meetings or site visits for this level of advice.  We can give general advice over the phone however, as there are different constraints for each property, telephone advice can not be specific to a single property.  It is much more efficient to write to or email us with your enquiry, this gives officers sufficient time to assess the proposal and respond in more detail.  You will also have our advice in writing.  Officers have 15 working days within which to respond to your enquiry.

Information required

To assess whether permission is required, we need you to provide us with clear information, so that we can offer accurate advice on the matter.  The information required, varies dependant on the type of development proposed and is set out on the Planning Enquiry forms below:

Please note that all pre-application advice is given on an informal basis formed with regard to the information submitted.  This advice is not a formal legal opinion, if you require this level of confirmation that planning permission is not required, a Certificate of Lawfulness should be submitted.

Major development proposals

Charges for advice on major proposals are in addition to statutory planning fees and apply to new-build, conversions or changes of use. Payments should be made in advance of the meeting taking place.

In cases where other licences or permission is needed beyond just planning permission, we offer a one stop shop. This improves our service to applicants and speeds things up.

Charges

Charges for major developments only.

Subsequent pre-application meetings or advice are charged at hourly rates. Quotations can be provided on request. Hourly rates for officers are currently:

Meetings

Please email planning@lewes.gov.uk to arrange an appointment. Meetings normally take place within 21 days of making a request. We will contact you with the officer’s name and suggested dates and location of the meeting. This is normally at Southover House but we can also consider site meetings if required.

Following the meeting, we will provide notes and a detailed advice letter outlining the major planning issues, constraints and requirements. This will be prepared by the case officer and counter-signed by a senior manager.

Written advice only, can be requested without a meeting. In this case we provide a written response within 21 days of receipt of the original request, subject to receiving all necessary information.Contact us to arrange an appointment. Meetings normally take place within 21 days of making a request.

Information required

To effectively use meeting time we ask that basic information is provided. This should be submitted to us before the meeting takes place. If we feel further information is needed we will inform you in advance.

Advice given

All pre-application meetings are informal and without prejudice. We can comment on an application’s content, preparation and presentation and if it’s likely to satisfy planning policies.

We can discuss the planning history of a site or relevant policies applying to it. We give details of statutory designations such as conservation areas, listed buildings or South Downs National Park.

We explain the forms, plans and supporting information needed for a valid planning application. We will talk you through the procedure, consultation arrangements and estimated time for processing the application.

Advice will be given on whether other statutory consents may be required and the likely costs involved.

Major developments may need to contribute to infrastructure. This might include affordable housing, open spaces, accessibility and education provision.

Environment Agency - Guidance for Developers

The Environment Agency have produced a guide for developers which gives practical advice on each of the environmental issues that may affect a development site. There is a checklist within the document and details of what consents and permissions may be required from the Environment Agency.

The document is available to view on the Environment Agency’s website (PDF link).