Our ongoing planning work

Most of the planning applications in our area are for minor or major alterations to existing properties, although from time to time we get applications for wholesale re-development.

Some of our streets, such as Hereford Road and Chepstow Road, are largely terraces of Grade 2 listed buildings.  Both the interiors and exteriors of listed buildings are controlled. Many of the recent relaxations to planning control do not apply within a conservation area such as ours.

What happens when a planning application is made?

Each planning application is allocated to a case officer in the planning department of the council who looks at the application and considers comments from neighbours, ourselves and other interested parties. Ideally those making applications will have discussed their proposal with their neighbours and file properly labelled documents and plenty of photographs to support their case. If the planning officer feels the application is controversial and not easily resolved, the application may be forwarded to a planning committee made up of councillors.

Planning itself does not entirely deal with the technical performance of buildings, so Building Control exists as a separate mechanism to ensure that buildings perform efficiently from the technical standpoint. Health and safety issues also impact the construction process and there is legislation designed to deal with this.

What is our role in the planning application process?

When we look at planning applications all comments are made in line with Nhenf guidelines, which can be found on our Planning Guidelines webpage. These guidelines were drafted subsequent to extensive local consultation amongst 1500 residences to form our local plan.

Our overall goal is to encourage planners to follow the wishes of our neighbours: to preserve the green spaces and develop in ways that are sympathetic to that as well as the architectural context of our area.  We also look to see some public benefit where possible, in terms of greening and energy conservation and the use of sustainable materials when viable.

The process described here is only part of the control mechanisms currently in place when a development occurs. A number of different agencies are involved in planning and development. The technical performance of buildings is controlled by the building regulations, separately from planning. In Westminster a proportion of this work is sub-contracted out to the private sector.

Work that affects neighbours requires a party wall agreement to try to ensure neighbours’ interests are fully protected. The ancient right to light is part of common law. In addition, permissions for skips and so on during construction rest with the highways department of the council.

And when buildings are listed, we defer to the heritage officer.

Queries related to planning applications

For queries related to planning applications please you can reach us at info@nottinghilleast.org.uk . If you are planning to do development work we are always available to check it against the guidelines with you, ideally at the early stage of thinking about your scheme. There are also some links on our Useful Contacts page that are specifically related to property development (e.g. party wall awards, building regulations, making changes listed buildings).