Town planning glossary

Agricultural holdings certificate
All planning applications must be accompanied by an agricultural holdings certificate confirming whether or not any of the land to which the application relates is, or is part of, an agricultural holding.

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)
Nationally designated areas of exceptional landscape character that have a greater level of protection against harmful development.

Areas of constraint
Areas recognised as having exceptional merit for natural or heritage reasons or needed to check the spread of development that are designated for a higher level of protection. See also Special area designations.

Article 4 directions
Article 4 directions are put in place by planning authorities to withdraw the automatic approval under permitted development (PD) rights to some or all of the PD rights in an area.

Betterment
The reduction in the potential impact of a development over the existing use.

Breach of Condition Notice
Issued by a planning authority as an alternative to an enforcement notice for breach of conditions.

Certificate of lawfulness of existing use or development (CLEUD)
CLEUDs establish the lawfulness of an existing use or development that does not have planning consent. It does not grant consent but certifies that the use or development has been in existence long enough to no longer require consent.

Community Infrastructure Levy
The Community Infrastructure Levy can be charged by local authorities on new development. The charges are based on the size and type of the new development. The money can be used to support development by funding local infrastructure.

Delegated powers
Powers granted to senior planning officers to grant consent for minor applications and applications within policy subject to the authority’s standing orders.

Design and access statement
A design and access statement (DAS) is a short report accompanying and supporting a planning application for major development. It sets out how a proposed development is a suitable response to the site and its setting, and demonstrates that it can be adequately accessed by prospective users.

Determination period
The time defined as the target period for planning authorities to reach and publish a decision on a planning application.

Development plan
The development plan consists of a number of documents that set out the aspirations for future development in the local area. These include core strategies, local development frameworks and neighbourhood plans and are expressed in written policy and policy maps.

Enabling development
Consents are given for projects that release resources for wider benefit.

Enforcement Notice
Sets out what breach of planning law has occurred and how it is to be remedied.

Grampian conditions
Negative conditions that prevent the development or its occupancy until works outside the application site have been undertaken.

Green belt
Areas of constraint against development around major urban conurbations. The aim of green belt policy is to prevent urban sprawl by keeping land permanently open. Openness is defined as the absence of development.

Heritage asset
A building, monument, site, place, area or landscape identified as having a degree of significance meriting consideration in planning decisions.

Historic environment
The context in which heritage assets are experienced.

Informatives
Guidance on other regulations that must be complied with and details of how to appeal attached by the planning authority to planning decision notices.

Injunction
The most serious enforcement action that can be put in place by the courts. It can result in imprisonment if not complied with.

Lawful development certificate
Issued by planning authorities to confirm that an existing development or a proposal does not require planning permission.

Local Development Order
Local Development Orders can be put into place by a local authority extending permitted development rights usually in order to stimulate economic growth.

Material amendment
An amendment to the approved scheme which is fundamental or substantial and which requires a new planning application.

Material consideration
Material considerations are matters relevant to planning that can be used to justify approval of an application where it goes against policies in the development plan. As they can be negative as well as positive they can also be weighed against the benefits of a proposal.

Minor material amendment
Any amendment where its scale and/or nature results in a development which is not substantially different from the one which has been approved. This is subject to agreement with the planning authority.

National Planning Policy Framework
In March 2012 the Department for Communities and Local Government introduced the National Planning Policy Framework which reduced over 1,000 pages of national policy to around 50. It abolished the National Planning Policy Statements and the earlier National Planning Policy Guidance notes.

Neighbour consultation scheme
The temporary increase in the permitted size of rear extensions is subject to a scheme by which neighbours are consulted by the planning authority and if no objections are received and the scheme is judged to be acceptable in terms of residential amenity the development is deemed to be approved.

Neighbourhood Development Order
Communities can use neighbourhood planning to permit development in full or in outline – without the need for planning applications. These are called ‘Neighbourhood Development Orders’. These do not take effect unless there is a majority of support in a referendum of the neighbourhood.

Neighbourhood plans
These are produced by local communities to add detail to the local plan and represent the community’s aspirations for development in their area. They have to be broadly in line with the Local Plan or the emerging plan and to have undertaken a process of public examination and a local referendum before they are adopted.

Non-material amendment
An amendment considered to be neither fundamental nor substantial by the planning authority and which can be determined by an application under section 96A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

Outline application
An outline application reserves matters to be approved in a subsequent reserved matters application.

Ownership certificate
All planning applications must be accompanied by a correctly completed section 12 certificate. The land ownership and interests are identified and if the application area defined by the red line on the plan is not entirely within the ownership and control of the applicant, notices must be served on the other parties.

Permitted development
These are classes of development for which a grant of planning permission is automatically given by national legislation, provided that no restrictive condition is attached or that the development is exempt.

Planning Contravention Notice
A notice to the owner of land used to obtain information about the breach which may or may not lead to an Enforcement Notice.

Planning Enforcement Order
An order issued by a planning authority and enforced by the magistrates courts. This is used where there has been a deliberate attempt to conceal a major breach

Planning performance agreements
Planning performance agreements (PPAs) are the framework for a collaborative process between the LPA, developer and their agents and key stakeholders in developing, processing and determining a planning application.

Planning Policy Guidance Notes (PPGs) and Planning Policy Statements (PPSs)
Planning Policy Guidance Notes, and their replacements Planning Policy Statements, were prepared by the government to provide guidance to local authorities and others on planning policy and the operation of the planning system. They were superseded by the National Planning Policy Framework in 2012, with further guidance provided in the Planning Practice Guidance, first published in March 2014.

Planning Practice Guidance
Online and updated guidance issued by the government, first issued in March 2014, underpinning the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). It carries the same weight for decision makers as the NPPF.

Pre-commencement conditions
Conditions attached to a planning approval that require work or further information which must be completed before work begins on site. These are also known as ‘conditions precedent’.

Presumption in favour of sustainable development
If a development plan is out of date the NPPF states that there is a presumption in favour of development if it is sustainable. Sustainability is defined in terms of economic, social and environmental dimensions.

Prior Approval Notice
Notice supplied to a planning authority that certain development that may be permitted under permitted development rights is being proposed. This is then checked against the requirements of the General Permitted Development Order as amended before approval is granted.

Section 106 agreement
An agreement under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 can be used to make an otherwise unacceptable proposal acceptable to the planning authority.

Special area designations
Areas recognised as having exceptional merit for natural or heritage reasons that are designated for a higher level of protection. See also Areas of constraint.

Stop Notice
Used with an Enforcement Notice to require operations or use to cease. Only used for actions that threaten public safety or amenity or to prevent serious or irreversible harm to the environment in the surrounding area.

Sui generis
Certain uses do not fall within any planning use class and are considered ‘sui generis’, which translated means of its own kind.

Temporary Stop Notice
Issued before an Enforcement Notice and effective for 28 days.

Tree Preservation Order (TPO)
A written order made by a local planning authority that makes it an offence to cut down, top, lop, uproot, wilfully damage or wilfully destroy a tree scheduled by the LPA.

Twin-track
To submit a duplicate application to the planning authority, which gives them the opportunity to determine the application and avoid the cost of an appeal.

Unitary and non-unitary authorities
Unitary authorities combine the county and district or borough roles. For non-unitary authorities, the roles are separate, with the core strategy produced at county level and shared with the local councils, who each produce their own local development framework.

Use classes
Building uses are grouped into use classes which are defined in the General Permitted Development Order (GPDO). Changing use within a use class is permitted development, as are some changes of use between use classes.

Validation requirements
The information required to support a planning application at submission. These are defined by a national list and locally held lists.