Advice on planning - opposing and defending applications - Last updated 2 June 2002

What constitutes grounds for refusal?
What can you do?

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The following is general guidance and the reader should realise that planning law changes all the time.  You are advised to check current rulings with the Chief Planner and the local Borough Public Library.

Licensing Applications 

In the case of Licensing applications these usually go to the relevant Neighbourhood Committee.  However under licensing law, councillors can be disbarred from judging an application if they represent the ward in which the license application is situated, or if they live in the same area as any significant number of objectors.  This means that an application in certain circumstances could possibly be herd by only opposition councilors.  Many councillors express the concern that the right for local people to make decisions through their locally elected representatives is being eroded by successive (Conservative and Labour) central government policies.

Planning Applications

Councillors have to be seen to be impartial with all applications.

These are decided upon by a set of criteria such as:

• Will the new building protrude over the building line.

• Does it meet the criteria set out in the councils Unitary Development Plan (UDP)

• Is there any other London wide or national guidance that applies to the application

Sometimes planning applications can go to committee.  Small applications go to neighbourhood committees who make decisions based on their local knowledge.

Larger plans go to the Development and Control Committee, while small application (e.g. house extensions) are usually delegated to council planning officers and are only referred to council committee in circumstances where there is likely to be appropriate objections.

The conditions which decide if an application goes to the central Development and Control Committee are:

1. More than 100 dwellings or 2 hectares of housing land

2. Non-residential development of more than 5,000 square metres floor space

3. New building of more than 25 metres high adjacent to the River Thames (i.e. within the Thames Policy Area)

4. New building more than 30 metres high elsewhere

5. Waste installation with a capacity of over 50,000 tonnes per annum

6. Development to provide a railway station, bus or coach station or any other such transport interchange

7. More than 4 hectares of Class B8 (storage and distribution)

8. A net increase of 200 or more carpark spaces

9. A Thames crossing

10. A passenger pier on the Thames

11. Development resulting in the loss of 200 dwellings or 4 hectares of residential land

12. Development of more than 4 hectares of B1 (Business) use, B2 (General Industrial) or B8 (Storage / Distribution) or which would prejudice such a level of use.

13. Development which would prejudice the use of a playing field (existing or used in the last 5 years)

14. Erection of a building of more than 1000 sq metres or change of use of such a building in the green belt or metropolitan open land or on land proposed to be allocated for such purposes

15. Applications a Neighbourhood Committee wishes to approve which would constitute a significant departure from the adopted or emerging Unitary Development Plan or other borough-wide planning policies

16. Development which may affect strategic sites or views

17. Any application relating to a Council promoted project unless falling within the scheme of delegation

18. Any application relating to development on land owned by the Council in which the Council has an interest unless falling within the scheme of delegation

19. Any application requiring referral to the Secretary of state or Mayor of London under regulations or orders currently in force or where they have expressed intention to call the application in

20. Variations to a planning obligation where the original resolution was by development Control Committee

21. Details pursuant to conditions of permissions granted by Development Control Committee unless falling within the scheme of delegation

22. Applications which have a significant material effect on more than one neighbourhood

Councillors of any party sitting on the committee can make in essence 3 choices:

1. Refuse permission

2. Grant permission

3. Grant permission on condition.

If permission is refused, then an applicant can appeal.  If an appeal is granted then the council will usually pay the cost of the appeal and often no conditions are attached. For this reason a borderline case is often granted permission with conditions.

In refusing an application, the applicant has a write of appeal.  In judging the appeal the application is referred to the department for the Secretary of state in Bristol, where usually a single individual will judge the case on its merits and make a ruling.  In taking into account the case, the individual judging the case will look at the application, the Council UDP and other legal documents from the Greater London Assembly (Mayor for London) and Central Government.  These documents can include not only legislation but planning guidance and memos.  In some cases local guidelines can be overridden by regional (e.g. London) or National guidelines.  For example Heathrow Airport will have a national and a regional strategic impact and so local policy for surrounding boroughs has less influence in the decision making.

Councils often find that decisions are overturned and permission subsequently granted by higher authorities on appeal.  In such circumstances councils will have costs awarded against them.  This can run into several thousand pounds of tax payers money - especially if with a large application a hearing is carried out.  

Consequently Councils will seriously consider granting permission with conditions imposed instead of turning down an application with the high risk of the decision being overturned and permission later given with no conditions and no S.O. 32 money to put right any impact on the community, not to mention the loss of money due to costs.

What constitutes grounds for refusal?
Well this is fairly complex.  The Council UDP basically sets out the rules and a breach in the UDP gives grounds for refusal. However no one has a right to view past their fence line, while lighting levels are often suggested for grounds for refusal, when in fact a development may have little or no impact on actual light intensity.

What is often quoted is increased parking and congestion - here conditions are usually imposed in terms of on site parking. Building work could be noisy and the council can impose conditions as to when work can take place and when vehicle movements can take place.  The washing of wheels of vehicles leaving a building site is also another condition that can be imposed.

If you plan to build a new extension and there is a similar extension elsewhere in the borough, then you could have grounds for appeal.  However the council and the person hearing the appeal will take onto account the surrounding area, building line and building density.

If a window is likely to overlook a property, then the angle of the window (if located in a building roof) can be negotiated as a condition and for other windows obscure glass can be stipulated.  If you have a conservatory and have built the adjoining property wall by using glass windows, you may find that this is in breach of planning advice and that you neighbour may be able to build a wall past that window.  Residents have no right to view onto a neighbouring property.

Councils have a rule known as SO32 in which they can levy on a developer money for special work to counteract the disadvantage a development will introduce.  This could include money for new school places, road alterations, etc.  A past Liberal Democrat administration in Kingston first applied this to a standard education levy and this has since been challenged in court by developers, with the Council winning the case. 

What can you do?
Letters carry more weight then a petition, they will also be detailed or mentioned in planning reports at committee.  Councillors are not allowed to enter into correspondence on an individual application.  Neither are they permitted to prejudice their view prior to the meeting to judge an application.  If they declare their opposition or support for an application prior to the application being herd, they can lose their right to vote on the application.  

It may also mean that the planning applicant has a far stronger case for appeal in the case where a councillor declares their opposition for an application ahead of the planning meeting where the application is rejected.

Letters in support or opposing an application should therefore be sent to the Chief Planner.  

The Chief Planner
Environmental Services
Guildhall
Kingston upon Thames
Surrey
KT1 1EU

You can ask the Planner to copy all councillors on the committee.  This also has the advantage that the relevant councillors are copied in automatically.  However because councillors are not allowed to enter into correspondence on applications they are at present unable to acknowledge correspondence on applications.  If you still fill you need to write to every councillor, the simplest way is to write one letter to the liberal democrat Group Rooms and ask them to do the copying for you.

The Liberal Democrat Group Rooms
Guildhall
Kingston upon Thames
Surrey
KT1 1EU

When opposing an application do look at the UDP (Unitary Development Plan) available in the Kingston upon Thames Libraries (each authority has its own - so use the right one).  In objecting do make sure you quote the relevant section as this helps to strengthen your argument.  Just writing and saying "I object" without giving any VALID reason is less likely be taken as seriously as a valid objection with reasons.

It is also worth thinking of detailing what you would require of the application to minimise the impact of the application on you.  This for example might include parking provision changes, planting of shrubs and trees to shield an area, planting of thorny shrubs to improve security, obscure glass used in certain windows, limitations to the hours used and number of people allowed in (in the case of halls).  

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