Pre-application advice for other developments

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Pre-application advice for other developments

Advice for all other forms of development including commercial and new builds.

We encourage prospective applicants to engage with us before making an application. This can improve the quality of the application and the likelihood of its success.

We offer a paid for pre-application advice service in relation to all types and scales of development. Written advice regarding the suitability of your proposal will be provided before the application is finalised and submitted. 

Benefits of this service

The benefits of obtaining pre-application advice include:

  • Gaining an understanding of the relevant planning policies and other material considerations that might be relevant to the proposal
  • The potential for concerns to be explored and issued to be resolved
  • Identifying other parties who might be interested in the proposal and inviting their early comments
  • Flagging up proposals which carry a high risk of refusal
  • Identifying the information required to accompany an application to reduce delays at validation stage
  • Outlining what to expect from the application process and the likely timescales in reaching a decision

More information on the benefits of pre-application engagement, see before submitting an application on GOV.UK.

The process

You will be required to complete and submit a pre-application enquiry form and provide other supporting information with the correct fee.

You will receive an acknowledgement letter within 5 working days of receipt of this information. The application will be allocated a unique reference number and a case officer. You will be provided with their contact details. 

A site visit is likely to be undertaken. Statutory and non-statutory consultees may be contacted for their comments.

What you will receive

We aim to provide written advice within 42 days of submission of your pre-application enquiry. If a quicker response is required, this can be agreed subject to a bespoke, additional fee. Contact us to discuss your requirements. 

The response will provide guidance on the acceptability of your proposal. The following points are likely to be covered (dependent on the nature of your proposal):

  • A review of your proposal against the relevant policies in the development plan, including on matters of principle as well as more detailed points
  • Commentary regarding compliance with local planning policy guidance, including the Trafford Design Code
  • The proposal’s acceptability when having regard to relevant matters
  • Feedback from consultees
  • Potential planning conditions which may be required, including to mitigate the effects of the development
  • Any financial contributions or other planning obligations which may be required
  • Application submission requirements

The acceptability of a proposal

When reviewing a proposal's acceptability we look at relevant matters which could include:

  • design and visual amenity
  • the housing mix
  • affordable housing
  • heritage impact
  • impact on neighbours and amenity standards
  • highways issues and parking
  • accessibility and adaptability
  • trees and landscaping
  • climate change and sustainability
  • biodiversity
  • noise/nuisance
  • air quality
  • land contamination
  • flood risk and drainage
  • crime and security

Meetings

In addition to this written advice, the pre-application response could include one meeting with the case officer, where appropriate.

In some circumstances, the pre-application advice can be provided in a meeting with officers with agreed minutes written by the applicant.

Where a more bespoke service is requested, this will be subject to an additional fee (normally based on hourly rates). This includes written advice plus meetings with more senior officers or officers from other services, for example highways. 

The fee would need to be agreed at the start of the pre-application process.

Status of advice

All pre-application advice is based on the information you provide, including the quality and accuracy of the submission. Whilst the advice can prove very useful, it is given without prejudice to the formal consideration of any subsequent planning application. 

This application stage would include the statutory consultation process. For this reason we cannot offer any guarantee about the outcome of a planning application when providing pre-application advice.

Pre-application enquiries are not published on our website in the same way as planning applications. All requests for advice are potentially subject to disclosure in response to Freedom of Information or Environmental Information Regulations requests. 

Confidentiality cannot therefore be guaranteed when using the pre-app service.