Amending and negotiation on planning application

It is the council’s duty to determine the valid applications that we receive. If a planning submission is judged by the council to be unacceptable, there is no obligation on the council to enter into negotiations to seek to resolve those planning issues; any negotiations/discussions are therefore entirely at the council’s discretion.

To run an efficient and effective service and to ensure that we can deal with all applications in a timely manner, we do not normally accept amendments to planning applications. It is the applicant’s responsibility to submit good quality applications that have all the required information to meet local and national policy requirements.

Amendments to applications often mean that the application cannot be dealt with within the statutory timeframe and can result in the application costing more than the planning application fee received. It is also unfair on third parties awaiting the outcome of the application.

If you are unsure if your application is at the required standard, please use our pre-application service prior to submission. Pre-application advice | Gloucester City Council

Householder Applications

Once you have submitted your planning application it will be determined as it is. We will only accept amendments that are requested by the case officer and are non-material in nature. Amendments that require us to reconsult your neighbours will not normally be requested.

You are therefore advised to make sure that you have read our Residential Householder Extensions Guide and Policy A9: Extensions to existing dwellings prior to applying for planning permission. Conflicts with the guide and policy will likely result in immediate refusal.

If you are not sure if your application would conflict with the guide and policy, please apply for pre-application advice

If you are applying for an annexe, please also read Policy A10: Annexes to existing dwellings. Again, if you are not sure if your proposals comply please apply for pre-application advice.

Minor and Other Applications

Once you have submitted your planning application it will be determined as it is. We can only accept amendments that are requested by the case officer and are non-material in nature. Amendments that require us to reconsult on your application will not be requested or accepted.

You are therefore advised to make sure that you have read our adopted policies prior to applying.

The determination of applications will not be delayed to allow applicants to address insufficient information or poor-quality applications.

Major Applications

Major planning applications where no pre-application advice was sought, or where the pre-application advice has been disregarded, will not be negotiated and will be determined in the form that they are received.

Those applications where pre-application advice was sought may be subject to amendments at the case officer's discretion providing a Planning Performance Agreement (PPA) is in place to cover the additional full cost of the re-consultation process.

Condition Discharge Applications

Once you have submitted your application it will be determined as is. We will not accept amended information. The discharging of conditions will not be delayed to allow applicants to address insufficient information or poor-quality submissions. Applications that cannot be immediately discharged will be refused.

If you submit one application to discharge multiple conditions, please be mindful that we will not delay the determination to resolve all matters. If one or more conditions is unacceptable but some are acceptable your case officer may ask if you would like to withdraw those unresolved conditions prior to issuing the decision. If you do not withdraw, or we do not hear from you within 5 working days, a split decision will be issued and the case closed.

If you are uncertain about the quality of your condition discharge application, you are advised to seek pre-application advice or submit each condition as individual applications.

Where we do request amendments

Amendments will normally only be sought once and will need to be received before a date set by your case officer. This will vary depending on their current caseload. If no amendments are received by the deadline the application will be determined as submitted. Amendments received after the deadline but before the issuing of the decision will not be accepted.

Amendments will only be accepted if an agreed extension of time has also been received.
It is unfair to third parties to continuously extend the determination of an application. As such only one extension of time will normally be accepted. After this time the application will be determined.

Amendments must clearly detail and describe the differences between the original and proposed drawings and documents. It must be obvious and simple for the case officer, consultees and the public to see and understand the proposed changes. Side by side comparisons and track changed documents are encouraged and may be required by your case officer.

Exceptions

In some circumstances (e.g. to avoid an unsuccessful appeal outcome, additional costs to the council, for political or procedural or practical reasons etc), exceptions to the above approach may be allowed at the discretion of the relevant Principal Planning Officer or Planning Development Manager.