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HOME PAGE | CONTENTS | DECISIONS
DECISIONS
REVIEWING THE PLANNING CONDITIONS
Planning
conditions are applied to decision notices in order to specify certain works
that are required or to limit the scope of the permission you have obtained.
The
range of conditions is extensive. They are generally either standard
conditions, which are applied to all similar applications, or those that are
more specific to the development you propose.
Planning
Authorities often have a schedule of standard conditions and you may see these
referred to in the Officers Report to committee as a series of numbers or
letters or written out in full.
The
various conditions attached to your decision notice MUST be complied with. They
are there to ensure the proper implementation of your permission and failure to
comply can result in Enforcement Action for Breach of Condition. There is no right of appeal
against a breach of condition notice.
Some
conditions may require works to be completed before the development can be
started; others - such as landscaping requirements - may follow
implementation and necessitate ongoing attention for a period of time.
In all cases planning conditions do not absolve you from
obtaining other necessary consents for Advertisements, Building Regulations, or other legal or technical
permissions.
Variations and Removal
of Conditions
There
may be aspects of the conditional permission that you consider are unacceptable
or require alteration. Perhaps conditions attached to an existing permission
require alteration due to a change in circumstances.
You
should have given the Council enough information with your planning application
to ensure that unacceptable conditions are not put to the committee. However,
they may decide to attach conditions in the interests of good planning that
affect the workability of your development. For example, a limit on evening
trading for a restaurant or café may be crucial to the success of the business,
but accord with Council policy in the area.
Very
minor changes to the approval may be acceptable to the Council as a Minor
Modification and dealt with by way of an exchange of correspondence.
More
substantial alterations will require another planning application to vary or remove
an unsuitable condition.
You may appeal against a planning condition within 6 months
of the date of the decision. [See Appeals]
Planning
Conditions should comply with guidance contained in Government Circular
11/95 - "THE USE OF CONDITIONS IN PLANNING PERMISSIONS". [Document
link Circular 11/95]
This
guidance note not only outlines the law on this issue, but provides a guide to
conditions that are considered to be acceptable and those that are viewed as
unacceptable.
Conditions
must generally be RELEVANT to planning issues and relevant to the development
to be permitted. They must be ENFORCEABLE. Conditions must therefore be PRECISE
and REASONABLE. Authorities may not apply conditions deliberately contrived to
prevent the development taking place.
A
condition may require certain works over land or property that is not within
the applicants' control. This does not necessarily make the condition invalid.
You should be very careful about challenging conditions and
always discuss the matter first with the planning department or professional
advisor. If you
appeal, the Planning Inspector may decide that the condition is so fundamental
that, without it, the planning permission should be refused. He could equally
consider the whole proposal unacceptable [ see APPEALS].