The nature of development proposals varies greatly from extensions to dwellings to housing developments or sand pits extracting millions of tonnes of sand.

Depending on the nature of your proposal, you will be asked to provide detailed information in support of your proposal. The more complex the proposal, the more detailed the information required.

The steps detailed below set out clear advice on how to go about applying for planning permission. The most important point to remember is "if in doubt, ask the advice of a planning officer".

Step 1

• Contact the Planning Service. Tell the planning staff what you want to do and ask for their advice.

Step 2

• If a planning officer thinks you need to apply for planning permission, ask him/her for an application pack. They will tell you how many copies of the form you will need to send back and how much the application fee will be.
  
  The full suite of planning application forms is available on this Website. Forms can be printed and then completed and posted into a divisional planning office.
  
  Planning Service is developing an online applications service . This means that in the future you will be able to submit your forms and pay your fee over the internet if you wish.

Step 3

• Decide what type of application you need to make. In many cases this will be a full application but there are circumstances when you may want to make an outline application - for example, to test the principle of development on the site. 

Step 4

• Send the completed application forms to your Divisional Planning Office, together with the correct fee. Each form must be accompanied by plans of the site and drawings showing the work you propose to carry out. (A planning officer will advise you on what drawings are needed.)