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Design and Access Statements

 

A Design and Access Statement must accompany applications for both outline and full planning permission unless they relate to one of the following:

 

• A material change of use of land and buildings, (unless it also involves operational development);

 

• Engineering or mining operations;

 

• Householder developments.

 

However, statements are required for householder applications where any part of a dwellinghouse or its curtilage falls within one of the following designated areas:

 

– National Park

 

– Site of special scientific interest

 

– Conservation area

 

– Area of outstanding natural beauty

 

– World Heritage Site

 

– The Broads

 

A Design and Access Statement is a short report accompanying and supporting a planning application that should seek to explain and justify the proposal in a structured way. The level of detail required in a Design and Access Statement will depend on the scale and complexity of the application, and the length of the statement will vary accordingly.

 

The Design and Access Statement should cover both the design principles and concepts that have been applied to the proposed development and how issues relating to access to the development have been dealt with.

 

What is required in a Design and Access Statement is set out in Article 4C of the GDPO and DCLG Circular 01/06 – Guidance on Changes to the Development Control System.

 

Applications for listed building consent will also be required to be accompanied by a Design and Access Statement. In particular, such a statement should address:

 

(i) the special architectural or historic interest of the building;

 

(ii) the particular physical features of the building that justify its designation as a listed building; and

 

(iii) the building’s setting.

 

The legislative requirements are set out in regulation 3A of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Regulations 1990.

 

See Also DESIGN AND ACCESS