Planning statements are a key part of any successful planning application.
The goal of a good planning statement is to provide a balanced justification for development. It should demonstrate:
- Local context;
- The need for the proposed development;
- How the proposed development accords with relevant national, regional and local planning policies;
- Whether emerging policies should be taken into consideration; and
- Set out other material considerations that should be taken into consideration
Planning policy weight
Planning law requires that applications for planning permission must be determined in accordance with the development plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise. So, the planning statement generally aims to demonstrate that a proposal is in accordance with all policies. However, it is not unusual for development plan policies to pull in different directions. A proposed development may accord with development plan policies which, for example, encourage residential development, and yet be contrary to policies which seek to protect open countryside. In such cases there may be no clear cut answer to the question: “is this proposal in accordance with the plan?”. In these cases the planning statement sets out the relative importance of the policies which are complied with or infringed, with a goal of assisting the planning officer to give the correct weight to the key issues. It is worth noting that policies that are out of date or ineffective may carry less weight in decision making.
Material considerations
The courts have held that: “any consideration which relates to the use and development of land is capable of being a planning consideration. Whether a particular consideration falling within that broad class is material in any given case will depend on the circumstances”. Some key material considerations that regularly crop up include:
- The planning history of a site;
- Precedents;
- “Enabling” development; and
- National guidance and written ministerial statements.
The planning balance
At the end of the planning statement we generally set out a planning balance. We would set out the social, economic and environmental benefits of the proposal and demonstrate how these outweigh any of the negatives.
If you require assistance with your planning project contact our team via enquiries@plainview.co.uk or call us on 01242 501003 to see how we can best assist you, providing the site address and a brief overview of your project. You can also submit your site via our Landmark Page. We value your privacy and any information which you provide will not be shared outside of our company and will only be used in relation to your enquiry.