- Planning advice
- A written view before you commit to an application or an appeal
- Planning supporting statement
- The statement submitted with the application. Included where we run the application
- Planning committee
- The written case the members read, and attendance where the Council allows a speaker
- Our fee
- Fixed in writing before work starts. No outcome is guaranteed
Planning advice
Send the address and what you want to do. The advice says how the scheme sits against the development plan, what the Council is likely to ask for, and whether an application, a prior approval, a lawful development certificate or a planning appeal is the right route.
It is advice on the planning system in England. We do not take instructions on Scottish, Welsh or Irish planning. The fee is fixed before the advice is written. We will tell you if the case looks weak before you spend the Council fee.
Planning supporting statements
A planning supporting statement, usually called a planning statement, is the document that goes in with the application. It describes the site, the proposal, the relevant policy, and why permission should be granted. Case officers read it before they write their report.
On a householder application, a full application or a change of use, the planning supporting statement is part of our fee. You see the draft before it is submitted.
Planning policy statements
The national series of Planning Policy Statements was withdrawn when the National Planning Policy Framework replaced them. They are not the policy that decides an application now. The NPPF 2026 briefing is the current framework.
What people still ask us to write under that name is the policy case inside the planning statement: the development plan, the neighbourhood plan where there is one, and the NPPF, applied to this site. That is the planning policy statement we prepare.
Planning committee
Most applications are decided by planning officers under delegated powers. A planning committee decides the ones the Council's scheme of delegation sends upstairs: often larger schemes, departures from the plan, and applications a councillor has asked to be heard.
We say in the quote if your scheme is likely to go to planning committee. The work is the report the members have in front of them, written so the recommendation can be followed, and attendance on the night where that Council's speaking rules allow an applicant to speak. Speaking time is short. The statement has to do the work before the meeting.
Advice, the statement, and committee attendance are each confirmed in the quote. Nothing is added afterwards without agreement.