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Pre-application advice

If you intend to make a planning application within the OPDC boundary area, we encourage you to seek pre-application advice, particularly if your scheme is large or raises complex planning issues.

Request pre-application advice from OPDC

To request pre-application advice from OPDC, please complete our pre-application advice request form and return the completed form and supporting documents to us via e-mail.

What information do you need to provide for pre-application advice?

The more information you provide about your proposal, the more comprehensive and complete our advice will be. Your request for pre-application advice, as a minimum, should include:

  • a completed pre-application advice request form
  • a site location plan
  • a supporting statement
  • indicative plans and elevations of the proposed development
  • the appropriate fee
  • any other information you consider relevant to the proposal

How much does pre-application advice cost?

The cost of pre-application advice will depend on the scale and nature of your proposals.
The fees below include:

  • a review of the planning information submitted
  • a meeting with OPDC officers
  • formal written advice
Development type Initial meeting fee Follow up meeting fee
Strategic Development (more than 150 residential units or 10,000 sqm of non-residential floorspace or proposals involving tall buildings greater than 15 storeys or 48 metres) £12,000+VAT (£14,400 inc. VAT) £7,800+VAT (£9,360 inc. VAT)
Large Major Development (50-149 residential units or 5,000-9,999 sqm of non-residential floorspace) £9,000+VAT (£10,800 inc. VAT) £5,400+VAT (£6,480 inc. VAT)
Major Development (10-49 residential units or 1,000 -4,999 sqm of non-residential floorspace) £6,600+VAT (£7,920 inc. VAT) £4,500+VAT (£5,400 inc. VAT)
Minor Development (less than 10 residential units or 1,000 sqm of non-residential floorspace) £4,200+VAT (£5,040 inc. VAT) £2,400+VAT (£2,880 inc. VAT)
Householder and other minor works No charge No charge

In order to benefit from the reduced fee for a follow-up meeting, the proposal must be for the same site, be for a similar use (or uses)  and the request must be made within three months of the initial pre-application meeting date. If a number of meetings are anticipated to be required, a Planning Performance Agreement (PPA) may be appropriate. Further details are set out below.

Information about how to pay your pre-application advice fee is contained in the pre-application advice request form. We cannot process your request until we have received the correct fee.

After requesting pre-application advice

Once we have received everything we require, your enquiry will be allocated to a planning officer. The planning officer will contact you to arrange a meeting. We  aim to provide a meeting date that is no more than 15 working days after receiving a complete request (including the correct fee).

Following the meeting, we will provide you with a written response summarising the issues discussed during the meeting and our advice on the planning merits of your proposals.

We aim to provide you with our written response within 15 working days of the meeting. All written advice will be reviewed and approved by a senior officer before it is issued.

Whilst we will always endeavour to respond to your enquiry and provide feedback  in a timely manner, if for any reason it is not possible to do so, we will communicate this to you within the timeframe outlined above and agree a revised date for the written response.

Borough involvement

OPDC is committed to working closely with the local boroughs on major and strategic development proposals and expect applicants to engage positively with the relevant local borough throughout the planning process. The reason for this is that whilst OPDC is the Local Planning Authority for the area, the boroughs continue to hold other statutory powers (such as in respect of highways) and responsibilities for public services within their administrative area.

Planning Performance Agreements (PPAs)

Some proposals are complex and will benefit from a structured programme of pre-application meetings. To provide clarity and certainty in such cases, we may recommend entering into a Planning Performance Agreement (PPA) in order to provide a framework for collaboration, identify the scope of issues to be discussed and the necessary resource, and help ensure that pre-application discussions progress according to an agreed timetable. This can include early discussions about heads of terms for a S106 agreement, advice about the scope and timing of community engagement activities and agreeing the documents you will need to submit with your application. You can enter into a PPA at any time during the application process, but it is advisable to do so as early as possible.

Where a series of pre-application meetings is requested, a bespoke programme and fee will be agreed based on the reasonable cost of resourcing. 

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