You may need planning permission from us to start your building or alteration work. Not all projects need planning permission, but if you do need permission you will need to send an application to us and get our approval. We call this development management and our Development Management Teams are in charge of this process. You may also need Building Regulations approval for building works or alteration. Please visit the Building Regulations and Control pages for details.
You can speak to Development Management using the following contact information but you may first like to read through the quick guide to planning permission below.
Telephone: 01327 322237 (for Development Support Team and Duty Planning Officer). Please also see our guidance note on the Duty Planning Officer service.
Email: mailto:development.management@southnorthants.gov.uk
Development Management
Development Services
South Northamptonshire Council
Springfields
Towcester NN12 6AE
For a quick guide to how all this works, click on the links below or visit the Planning Portal. The Planning Portal has lots of general planning advice and useful tools to help you find out if you need planning permission for general items such as extensions and satelite dishes.
Not all development needs planning permission. You don't need planning permission for most internal work to buildings unless the building is Listed. You don’t need planning permissions for some external changes such as putting in telephone connections or alarm boxes. Some other small building projects such as extensions might also not require permission and are refered to as "permitted development".
In the first instance, you are advised to click on the links below for futher information about whether planning permission is needed for the development you wish to undertake. These will take you to the government's advice website which contains frequently asked questions and case studies. You should also refer to our guidance note on permitted development for information on restrictions relating to it and advice on how to obtain written confirmation from the Council as to whether a proposal requires planning permission. Please note that while the Duty Planning Officer will give advice on the general rules and regulations as they relate to permitted development, they will not comment on specific proposals (please see our guidance note on the Duty Planning Officer service).
There are some special rules for signs (see below), hedges, protected trees (see Planning Enforcement & Trees section) and listed buildings (please see our Listed Buildings section). If you are still not sure about any work involving these please talk to the Duty Planning Officer (please see our guidance note on this service).
If you are thinking about making a planning application, talk to us first. We can give you pre-application advice and help you get things right first time, saving time and money in the long run. It is worth talking to one of our professional planners/tree officer for some initial advice. Please refer to our pre-application advice guidance note for further details about this. We have a pre-application enquiry form to use if you would like to use this service. You can download this by clicking on Pre-Application Enquiry Form (pdf). Please note that the Duty Planning Officer will not give advice on specific planning proposals at the pre-application stage (please see our guidance note on this service).
The Planning Portal also offers a host of useful tools and advice for both householder and business people.
Most outdoor advertising requires consent with only a few limited exceptions. And most illuminated advertisements need consent.
We can challenge any advertisement put up without consent and ask for it to be removed. The owner can appeal to the Secretary of State.
For more information there is a free booklet on the Department of Communities and Local Government website called Outdoor Advertisements and Signs – A Guide for Advertisers (link opens in a new window)
. We do not have control over the content of advertisements. If you would like to comment or complain about the content of an advertisement, then please contact the Advertising Standards Authority (link opens in new window).
South Northamptonshire Council uses the 1App National Standard Application Forms both for paper and online submission of planning applications. On the 6th April 2008 1App forms became mandatory and therefore we can no longer accept old style forms.
For more information click on Planning application forms and check fees at Planning Fees.
Decisions on planning applications are taken by the Development Control Committee of Councillors. However in practice 90% of decisions are delgated to planning officers. We carefully assess each planning application in line with national, county and local planning rules and policies. We take into account the views of the public and neighbours, and bodies such as the Environment Agency (which has duties to protect us all from flooding).
When councillors are asked to make the decision they will be given a detailed report on the application prepared by a professional planner. The professional expert will recommend a decision but councilliors can decide to make a different decision. You may want to look at our Planning Meetings information for more details of how the committee works.
We have got a very simple diagram of how the whole process works with rough timings. You can download this by clicking on Planning Application Process Diagram (.doc).
Applicants will be told about decisions and the reasons they have been made. Anyone can check on decisions by going to List of planning applications and decisions (we try and update this the day after committee) or checking the planning register.
If you think the Council has made an unreasonable decision about your planning application, you can appeal to the Secretary of State (top central government minister). Appeals must be made within six months of the date of the notice of decision, or within 12 weeks if the appeal is against a refusal of a householder application.
The Planning Inspectorate website has excellent guides that can be downloaded using the following links:
Guide to taking part in planning appeals proceeding by written representations - England http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/pins/taking-part_planning-written.pdf
Guide to taking part in planning appeals proceeding by a hearing - England http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/pins/taking-part_planning-hearing.pdf
Guide to taking part in planning appeals proceeding by an inquiry - England http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/pins/taking-part_planning-inquiry.pdf
For enforcement appeals:-
Guide to taking part in enforcement appeals proceeding by written representations - England http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/pins/taking-part_enforcement-written.pdf
Guide to taking part in enforcement appeals proceeding by a hearing - England http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/pins/taking-part_enforcement-hearing.pdf
Guide to taking part in enforcement appeals proceeding by an inquiry - England http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/pins/taking-part_enforcement-inquiry.pdf
You can also appeal on-line at the Planning Portal web site.
The views of local people are very important and are taken seriously by the council when it looks at planning applications. We welcome your comments, whether you support or oppose a particular planning application.
To help you get your views across to us, we have put together some do's and don'ts. You can find them by clicking on Commenting on planning applications.
If our planning system is to work fairly for all, we have to take action against those who break the planning rules.
We have a Planning Enforcement & Trees Team that does this, working within an Enforcement Policy – and it has powers to take action. If you want to see this policy go to Planning Enforcement Policy pages.
That said, most cases can be sorted out by talking it all through.We are also keen to know if you have spotted something that you think breaks the planning rules.You can report it to us using the online form or contact us at:
Phone: 01327 322194
Email: mailto:development.management@southnorthants.gov.uk
Planning Enforcement & Trees
Development Services
South Northamptonshire Council
Springfields
Towcester
NN12 6AE