Plainview Planning's COVID-19 position

In light of the ever evolving coronavirus situation, we are writing to reassure you that Plainview Planning Ltd is committed to the health and safety of its clients, partners and employees.

We anticipate that most of our employees will be working from home in the near future. We want to reassure you that we will endeavour to maintain business as usual and ensure you do not experience a decrease in service or support.

In response to recent guidance, we have successfully trialled working from home and have the necessary provisions in place to ensure there is minimal disruption to the quality services that our team provide. We have outlined relevant processes below:

Phone calls

Please use 01242 501003, and make use of voicemail if a call goes unanswered. The voicemails are emailed to all staff so your message won’t be missed. If you prefer to contact us via email then these are also provided below.

Video conference

We are seeking to move the majority of our meetings online. We have trialled Google Hangouts and find it the most straightforward platform to use. Instructions will be sent if we need to arrange a meeting.

Council and Planning Inspectorate delays

For those of you with live planning applications and appeals, we anticipate some processing delays from councils and the Inspectorate. We will keep you informed of any such delays.

The planning system and COVID-19

A few tips from us:

Don’t forget planning deadlines. These include: 6 months to appeal a planning refusal; 12 weeks to appeal a householder refusal; 3 years to implement a permission; 12 months to have a “free-go” application.
During the last financial crisis, our records show that councils became more lenient, giving greater weight to the economic benefits of development or changes of use in their consideration of planning applications. There is an opportunity to capitalise on this more positive sentiment from councils and seek planning permission.

Thank you for your continued support during this time and if you do have any concerns or questions, feel free to contact Caroline via email or telephone (caroline@plainview.co.uk, 01242 501003).