Withdrawn Planning Application when does 1 year free go start

Planning Advisory Service (PAS)

Ouvert | En cours - juillet 2012 | Dernière modification - Aujourd'hui

Sarah Cornwell, modifié il y a 13 années.

Withdrawn Planning Application when does 1 year free go start

New Member Publications: 5 Date d'inscription: 11/08/13 Publications Récentes

I have recently resubmitted an application following withdrawing a similar scheme on 2 September 2010 to avoid a refusal. The council are now refusing to register the new application as although it was not validated until May 2010, the previous application was originally submitted on 20 January 2010. They are stating therefore that we are over the year and no not qualify for a free go. Circular 04/08 makes reference to the year being from the revised application must be made from 12 months of the making of the earlier application. All development control officers I have spoken to state the year starts from registration as in fact an application is not in reality a true application until it is validated. What is others interpretation ? What other options do I have? The only one I can see is appealing fro non-determination after 8 weeks as we assume the council have all the information to determine the application.

Former Member, modifié il y a 13 années.

Re: Withdrawn Planning Application when does 1 year free go start

To quote the 1989 fee regs, regulation 8, para. (2), the free go for withdrawn applications is where: (a)that the application is made within 12 months of– (i)the date when the earlier application was made, I've always taken the phrase "when the earlier application was made" as meaning 'when the earlier application was submitted'. This should be the day of or day before the registration date (essentially the 'received' date), and the validation date may of course be later. I therefore suspect that an appeal against non-determination of the current application will see the planning inspectorate refusing to validate the appeal on the ground that the correct fee hasn't been paid.

Former Member, modifié il y a 13 années.

Re: Withdrawn Planning Application when does 1 year free go start

As with Andrew's reply in Scotland our Regs state that the 'free go' provision will only apply where the application is made within 12 months of the date when the earlier application was made. Our parallel Fees Circular refers to the new application being submitted within 12 months of the lodging of the earlier one.

James Perry, modifié il y a 13 années.

Re: Withdrawn Planning Application when does 1 year free go start

New Member Publications: 8 Date d'inscription: 23/05/11 Publications Récentes

This might not strictly speaking be relevant to the original post but does an applicant have a free go in this scenario: 1) a withdrawn application within a year, followed by 2) a refused application, followed by 3) a fresh application (all 3 apps relating to the same development description)? So basically does a withdrawn application count as a decision? If that's the case it would mean that the applicant would now be submitting a third application within a year losing the free go.

Former Member, modifié il y a 13 années.

Re: Withdrawn Planning Application when does 1 year free go start

Eric, FYI - I deleted your other post... best not to have the forum over-run with duplicate posts. Thanks. John.

Former Member, modifié il y a 13 années.

Re: Withdrawn Planning Application when does 1 year free go start

Erich, you only get 1 free go per applicant per site for EITHER a refusal or a withdrawal. So the answer to your first question is no. However, my understanding is that you can also get a separate free go after an approval because this provision is in a separate regulation. So if you wanted to amend an approved scheme you could get a free go even if you had already used a free go following a refusal or withdrawal on the same site. This all assumes that the applications are for substantially similar forms of development of course. See The Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications and Deemed Applications) Regulations 1989, Regulations 6 and 7.

Former Member, modifié il y a 13 années.

Re: Withdrawn Planning Application when does 1 year free go start

Sorry to correct you Nick, but I think it's Regulations 7 and 8 - specifically, the very last paragraph of those regulations. Quite why this is the case is a puzzle to me - the principle seems to be that an applicant shouldn't get more than one free go for any one proposal. For that matter, why are withdrawals and refusals lumped into the same regulation? - I'm sure there's a reason, but whether that would stand up to scrutiny is another matter. Of course, this could all change with the new fee-setting powers being given to lpa's - in some areas there may be no such thing as a free go soon!

Former Member, modifié il y a 13 années.

Re: Withdrawn Planning Application when does 1 year free go start

No problem Andrew, thanks for the correction. I agree that it is odd to allow for two free gos. Scrutinising planning regulations is never a good idea. That way madness lies. Re. local fee-setting I expect you're right that the free go is likely to disappear. It certainly isn't free for the LPA to deal with resubmissions. Although planning officer time might be slightly reduced it involves the same consultations, press ads, etc.

James Perry, modifié il y a 13 années.

Re: Withdrawn Planning Application when does 1 year free go start

New Member Publications: 8 Date d'inscription: 23/05/11 Publications Récentes

Thank you both for your input. I'm aware that there is only 1 free go within a year. I wasn't sure however whether a withdrawal would count as a decision or not. Nick, you state that there is a separate free go allowed after an approval (under a separate regulation). Does this also have to be within a year I assume?

Former Member, modifié il y a 13 années.

Re: Withdrawn Planning Application when does 1 year free go start

Yes Erich, the application must be made within 12 months of the previous decision.