Insights
Planning Guides & Insights
Practical planning advice from Chartered Town Planners, covering planning applications, flood risk, infrastructure, sport and leisure, and rural development across the UK.
Latest
Flood Risk & Sequential Test · 6 min read
Sequential Test for Lewes District Planning Applications
What Lewes District Council expects from a flood risk Sequential Test: tidal risk at Newhaven and Seaford, river flooding along the Ouse, the area of search outside the South Downs National Park, and how to avoid delays.
Flood Risk & Sequential Test · 6 min read
Sequential Test for Medway Planning Applications
What Medway Council expects from a flood risk Sequential Test: where tidal flood risk applies along the River Medway and on the Hoo Peninsula, the area of search across the Medway towns, and how to avoid delays while the Local Plan is at examination.
Flood Risk & Sequential Test · 6 min read
Sequential Test for Plymouth Planning Applications
What Plymouth City Council expects from a flood risk Sequential Test: where tidal and river flood risk applies, from the Barbican and Sutton Harbour to Marsh Mills and Stonehouse, the area of search in the city, and how to avoid delays.
Planning Applications
6 min read
Why Has My Planning Application Been Marked Invalid?
The most common reasons councils reject planning applications at validation, what happens next, and how to get an invalid application registered quickly.
7 min read
What Documents Do I Need for a Planning Application?
A plain-English guide to the national and local validation requirements for planning applications in England, with examples by development type.
Flood Risk & Sequential Test
Local Sequential Test guides
What each council expects from a flood risk Sequential Test: where flood risk applies, the area of search and how to avoid delays.
Rural & Equestrian
7 min read
Farm Diversification: Planning Permission, Class R and Permitted Development
How to get planning permission for farm diversification: Class R conversions to business, storage and holiday uses, 28-day events and 60-day campsites, farm shops, holiday lets, NPPF Policy E4 and the Green Belt.
6 min read
Selling Biodiversity Net Gain Units from Farmland: A Guide for Landowners
How farmers and landowners create and sell off-site biodiversity units: the statutory metric, 30-year legal agreements, the biodiversity gain site register, the August 2026 changes and the planning points to settle first.
7 min read
Class Q Barn Conversions in 2026: What Qualifies and What Doesn't
The current Class Q rules for converting agricultural buildings to homes: up to 10 homes and 1,000 square metres, rear extensions, the 24 July 2023 test, protected land, structural condition and the prior approval matters councils assess.
7 min read
Farm Buildings: Prior Notification or Planning Permission?
When a new agricultural building needs planning permission and when Part 6 permitted development applies: the 5 hectare threshold, size and height limits, the 400 metre livestock rule, the 28-day prior notification process and how it affects Class Q.
6 min read
Rural Workers' Dwellings: How to Get Permission for a Home on the Farm
When national policy allows a new home in the countryside for a rural worker: the essential need test in NPPF Policy HO11, functional and financial evidence, temporary dwellings, occupancy conditions and other routes to a home on the farm.
6 min read
Why a Racehorse Trainer Bought a Golf Club: Planning as Business Strategy
How Ben Pauling turned Naunton Downs Golf Club into a racehorse training yard, why an existing sporting use made planning easier, and what landowners and rural businesses can learn before buying a site.
8 min read
Stables and Equestrian Development in the Green Belt: A Planning Guide
Do you need planning permission for stables, arenas or a livery yard in the Green Belt? How national Green Belt policy treats equestrian use, what makes stables appropriate, and common reasons for refusal.
Sport & Leisure
7 min read
Padel Court Planning Permission: Noise, Floodlighting and the Green Belt
Do padel courts need planning permission? Why padel applications are refused over noise, what a good acoustic assessment covers, floodlighting, Sport England, and building padel courts in the Green Belt.
6 min read
Planning Permission for Pump Tracks and Splash Pads
Do pump tracks and splash pads need planning permission? Council permitted development rights, noise, drainage, water supply, playing fields and Green Belt issues, and how to keep a funded project on programme.
Infrastructure & Major Projects
8 min read
Boat Moorings and Marinas: Planning Permission and River Consents
When moorings, pontoons, jetties and marinas need planning permission, the Environment Agency, navigation and marine consents that also apply, flood risk, EIA and what decides marina schemes.
7 min read
Data Centres in the Green Belt: Grey Belt, Need and Recent Decisions
How national policy treats data centres in the Green Belt: the grey belt test in NPPF Policy GB7(g), very special circumstances, decisions at Abbots Langley, Iver and Slough, and how to build a case that holds up.
8 min read
Heathrow Expansion: How Affected Landowners and Businesses Can Prepare
The Heathrow third runway timeline, who is affected, how landowners and businesses can prepare now, responding to the consultation, and how planning evidence affects compensation.