Wokingham

Improving the quality and suitability of development in the Wokingham district are the aims of an extended pre-planning application advice service set to be considered by the district council.

At their meeting on Thursday June 29, members of Wokingham council’s decision-making executive will consider a proposal to extend the pre-planning application advice service offered to those looking to develop property in the Wokingham district to cover both minor and major applications with the aim of improving the planning process for everyone. (Householders planning to extend or make alterations to their home will not be affected by the proposed changes.)

Wokingham council’s development control service has an ongoing programme of modernisation and improvement with a clear focus on achieving quality development in the district. Recent initiatives include increased training for staff and councillors, the development of a residential design guide, service re-organisation and a new management team. The extension of the pre-application advice service is the latest part of this programme of enhancement.

Pre-application advice offers those intending to make planning applications feedback on what is likely to be acceptable in planning terms and the process that applications will have to follow. It also informs people of the supporting information they will need to supply with an application, such as an environmental impact assessment and statement on community involvement.

This advice is an important aspect of the planning process and results in a better quality of development. Currently, however, it is only offered to those making larger applications, meaning that smaller applications may not receive the benefit of informed discussion before they are submitted.

This service is not covered in the current planning fees and charges and has to be funded by the council. Therefore, should the executive give the proposal the green light, the extensions of the service will see an accompanying fee being introduced.

Executive member for local and regional planning Wokingham Cllr Gary Cowan said: “Whilst the council is fighting increased housing development at every level, we have to be realistic and accept that the district is a popular place to live and new homes will need to be built. It follows, therefore, that we should do everything we can to ensure that the development that does occur is of a high quality and suitable to the character of its surroundings.

“Pre-application advice is a vital part of the planning process and our officers are keen to engage with developers at an early stage to make sure that the Wokingham district gets suitable development.

“This, however, comes at a cost which shouldn’t be borne by the council tax payer. Should the executive agree the proposal, the new system aims to offer quality advice to potential applicants, ensuring that valuable officers’ time is used wisely by developers and ill-thought out unsuitable ideas don’t get to the application stage. Officers and members alike should see more considered proposals coming forward, resulting in quality developments in our towns and villages.”

If given the go-ahead, the new system will see a fee of £1,000 for major applications (10 units or more for residential and 1,000 metres² or more for commercial) and £500 for minor applications (nine units or less for residential and 999 metres² or less for commercial) from early July. Householders planning to extend or make alterations to their existing home - making up some 80% of applicants - will not be subject to the fees and will continue to have free access to advice from a duty planning officer during office hours (Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5pm).

Advice will cover planning policy, the process and timetable for an application, any possible infrastructure requirements and the likely success or otherwise of a proposal.

The Wokingham planning service also commits to allocating a planning officer to the case within five days of an application being submitted, a site visit and response from the council’s internal consultations (highways, tree officers and biodiversity officer, for instance) within 15 days, a face-to-face meeting between developer and planning officer (two meetings for major) and written advice from officers, including information on developer contributions (section 106 payments).

Wokingham District Council