Planning House are delighted to have secured a planning success in Kingston upon Thames. We were initially contacted by a developer to assist in discharging planning conditions which were outstanding on a planning approval for residential development. Some conditions can be confusing and it’s important not to get caught out with them.
The Background
In this instance an application to discharge multiple conditions had been correctly submitted to Kingston upon Thames Council by the agent/architect – Ascot Design.
Planning House were brought in on the basis that despite the numerous efforts by the applicant/agent to secure a decision, after 18 weeks the application was still pending.
In this case there is a pressing need for the conditions to be approved as the site in question is adjacent a school, where a house was due to be demolished to make way for the new development. In order to minimise risk demolition should be carried out within the summer leave when the school would be empty.
The Result
The applicant contacted us last week to discuss options, and notwithstanding informally approaching the Council for an update in a bid to save the client time and money a response was not forthcoming. Notice was duly served on Thursday and an approval was issued by the Council the following Monday morning.
What is a Notice?
Whilst we do not take serving notice lightly, we served Notice on the Kingston upon Thames Council, under The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015 (as amended), due to the lack of a decision from the Council within the specified timescales, in a bid to speed up the process. This is known as Deemed Discharge of a Condition.
Deemed discharge of a condition means that the local planning authority’s consent, agreement or approval to any matter as required by the condition is deemed to have been given. There are specific types of conditions where this mechanism does not apply. In our case one condition did not quality for this route, nonetheless we’d had confirmation from the consultee that the details submitted were acceptable.
If no decision is made to discharge the condition within 12 weeks, the local planning authority must return the fee to the applicant without further delay.
We’re delighted our client secured discharge of the conditions and is now in a position to commence work on the site.
Related Content:
If you have received a planning approval it’s essential you know what conditions are attached, what they cover and how they can be complied with. Read our article Understanding Planning Conditions which details the top 5 things to know about planning conditions.
