Planning Law
PLANNING LAW – SOLICITORS IN SWINDON
Planning law
Planning law is an extremely complex area of the law. At its simplest planning rules and regulations are about regulating property owners to only use and develop their property in a way which does not detrimentally affect the local community. This area of law also covers the way in which land is used. This includes controlling where certain buildings can be built and requiring the permission of a local land authority before making substantial changes to a building.
The ultimate aim of planning rules and regulation is to create a balance between protecting built-up or natural environments and allowing developments to meet people’s needs such as office buildings. These decisions are not always easy to make. For example, there is a park between three houses in a village. The park is an area where many local children enjoy playing and the owners love the view. A developer wants to build three houses on the park which will provide reasonably priced homes for local people. The local authority will have to decide whether the houses should be built by weighing up the interests of the current residents, the developer, the potential residents and the wider community
Once a planning order has been given then it is vital that the terms of the planning permission are adhered to with respect to any construction.
In some cases a planning application may be refused by the relevant local council. In those cases you may have grounds for appeal.
There may be some further considerations that a local authority may have to consider before allowing or disallowing developments to take place. This relates to the listed building legislation. All buildings built before 1700 and most buildings built between 1700 and 1840 will be listed if they have not been altered to a great extent. Buildings built between 1840-1914 will only be listed in special cases. Even buildings from 1914 can be listed if they are considered good examples of modern architecture.
If some buildings have been placed on the government’s list of buildings of special architectural or historic interest they will be offered special protection.
There are three different types of grades that a building could potentially fall under if listed. They are grade I: buildings of exceptional interest; grade II*: buildings of special interest with particularly important features; and grade II: buildings of special interest.
If a building falls under one of these categories then the planner must consider whether the potential development badly affects the setting of the listed building. If the potential development spoils the scenery of a listed building a planner should refuse planning permission.
If a building falls under grade I then owners of listed buildings must seek permission from their local authority before making developments or even alterations to the buildings. This includes any proposed changes to windows, roof materials and even demolition of walls inside the house and removal of fireplaces.
There are also special procedures and considerations in place in the case of wanting to develop conservation areas and monuments.
We can advise and assist with :-
General Planning advice
- Planning applications
- Planning objections
- Planning appeals
- Applying For Change of Use of Premises
- Advising on listed buildings and conservation areas
- Dealing With Stop Notices
- Dealing With Planning Contravention Notices
- Breach of Condition Notices