Introduction

The Council operates a pre-application advice service for which it charges a fee that is commensurate to the scale and type of proposal. There is no requirement for applicants to seek pre-application advice, but there are significant benefits to be gained from pre-application discussions with the Council. These include:

• identifying any initial problems that may prevent a proposal from gaining planning permission, thus speeding up decision making on your planning application by reducing the levels of negotiation and amendment;
• identifying proposals that are unlikely to be acceptable, saving the time and cost of a wasted application;
• advice on the information likely to be required to accompany the application.

Our pre‐application service offers clear, impartial and professional advice on a range of proposals from house extensions to major residential and commercial developments. Details of pre-application fees may be found in the Schedule of Pre-Application Advice Fees.

If your only query is whether you are likely to require planning permission for domestic development proposals (e.g. house extensions; satellite dishes) please visit our Do I Need Planning Permission? page.

How do I access pre-application advice?

Prospective applicants seeking pre-application advice are required to complete the Request for Pre-application Advice form, which is also available at our reception at Queen’s Buildings, Worksop. This form sets out the information that is expected from service users in order for the request to be valid (in addition to the correct fee). It includes as a minimum:

• your name, address and contact details;
• a site plan (at 1:1250 scale (Ordnance Survey plans may be purchased from Planning Services);
• details of your proposals for the site; and
• Use Class details.

You will also need to include the correct fee. This can be paid by cheque (made payable to Bassetlaw District Council) or you can contact Planning Services on 01909 534430, 533264 or 533220 and pay by debit or credit card. 

Within one week of receiving a request for pre-application advice, the service will contact you to confirm that:

• your request for advice has been received and to provide you with a reference number, which should be used in all correspondence; and
• the fee, if submitted with the form, is correct or, if a fee has not been submitted with the form, what the fee is.

You may also be informed that additional information is required before pre-application advice can be offered.

Where a fee has been submitted for advice without all other necessary information and that additional information is not received within four weeks of the original submission, the fee will be returned but 10% will be deducted for administration costs (with a minimum charge of £25). Where the correct information has been submitted without the requisite fee and that fee is not received within four weeks of the original submission the request for advice will be deemed to have been withdrawn.

What will I receive?

Within 10 days of receiving a valid request, the allocated case officer will contact you and agree a time and date for a meeting (if applicable). Alternatively, the case officer will confirm the timescale for issuing their advice. The target date for responding to a valid request will be eight weeks, although this cannot always be guaranteed for more complex schemes (where a longer time frame or bespoke arrangement may be agreed) or where, for example, we are awaiting a response from external consultees. You will be advised of any changes to this target date. Meetings will normally be held at the Council’s offices at Queen’s Buildings, Worksop. Where specialist advice is requested at a meeting, the necessary District Council Officers will attend subject to availability.

The case officer will:

• Research the history of the site;
• Undertake an unaccompanied site visit;
• Consult with key statutory and non-statutory consultees that would normally be contacted at application stage;
• Identify and assess the prospective application against Council policies and standards.

A written response, based upon the plans/information provided and upon any meeting discussions, will be prepared. Where it is felt that a prospective application is likely to be acceptable to the Council, this response will include:

• a list of any key planning policies and constraints that may affect the proposal;
• an outline of any relevant planning history relating to the site;
• an indication of supporting documents and information that are likely to be required with an application to ensure that it is valid on receipt (although applicants will still need to ensure that they have met the relevant requirements of the Council’s Validation Checklist before submitting a formal application);
• an outline of possible conditions and S106 requirements that could be attached to any similar proposal if submitted. This will not be exhaustive and the Council may add additional conditions and requirements as part of its scrutiny of any formal application; and
• details of any responses received from statutory and other (not neighbour) consultees through the pre-application process.

Where it is felt that a prospective application is unlikely to be acceptable to the Council, this response may include:

• a list of any key planning policies and constraints that may affect the proposal;
• an outline of any relevant planning history relating to the site;
• suggestions about how the proposal could be amended, if at all, to address issues of concern that may have arisen (although the Council will not design schemes); and
• details of any responses received from statutory and other (not neighbour) consultees through the pre-application process.

Where follow-up advice is sought, following receipt of the case officer’s response, this must be made in writing, must include the original reference number given by the Council and must provide clear details of the additional advice being requested. Any such requests will be acknowledged in writing within one week and will include an estimate of the cost for the additional advice. If you then wish to proceed, the fee must be paid in full prior to any advice being issued.

Of what else do I need to be aware?

Any views or opinions expressed by Officers in pre-application advice are given in good faith, without prejudice to the formal consideration of any planning application, which will be subject to public consultation and ultimately be decided by the Council. There is not, therefore, a guarantee that permission will be granted for any subsequent application.

Subsequent alterations to legislation and/or local, regional and national policies might affect the advice that has been given.

Caution should be exercised in respect of pre-application advice for schemes that are not subject to the submission of a planning application within a short time of the receipt of the Council’s advice.

• Freedom of Information and Data Protection information regarding Pre-application Advice