Our pre application advice service provides an opportunity to discuss your proposed scheme and get clear written expert advice from a planning officer before you submit an application.
Requests for advice should be made by completing the pre-application advice form.
Request minor development advice
Pre-application enquiries will not be processed without the appropriate fee.
Once your request for advice has been received and checked, we aim to contact you within 5 working days to acknowledge receipt of your form and inform you of the name of the planning officer dealing with your request.
A planning officer of the council will consider your proposal and, with advice from relevant consultees if necessary, provide you with an indication of whether your proposal is likely to receive planning permission.
The planning officer will also advise you if further information is required to support any future planning applications that you may submit.
The service respects confidentiality and will not release any details, either internally or externally, unless it is necessary to do so in order to assist you. If this is the case, information will only be released with your agreement.
| ITEM | COST (VAT INCLUSIVE) |
|---|---|
Householder (extensions and alterations within the boundary of a house) | £60.00 |
| Advertisements | £60.00 |
| Telecommunications development | £60.00 |
| Agricultural developments | £60.00 |
| Listed buildings | £100.00 |
| 0 - 4 residential units* | £150.00 |
| 5 - 9 residential units* | £300.00 |
All other minor development All other development not falling into the above categories Involving development of less than 1,000sqm floor space or on sites of less than 1 hectare. For example retail, commercial, industrial, leisure, education, recreation or car parks. | £300.00 |
* Where the development proposal is in outline, an indication of the number of dwellings likely to be accommodated on the site must be provided in order to calculate the fee.
Please note that Lancashire County Council, as the Highways Authority, charges separately for the provision of pre-application advice. Please visit their website for more information.
Charges will not be made for development proposals which:
The following information and plans should be submitted with the pre-application advice form. If insufficient information is submitted we may be unable to provide pre-application advice.
As a minimum please include:
Once a request is received it will be assigned to a planning officer. The planning officer will aim to provide you with a written response within 21 working days of receipt of the request and relevant payment.
The planning officer will only visit the site if he or she considers it necessary. Likewise meetings will only be arranged if the planning officer considers a meeting is necessary.
You should be aware that any advice given by the Council in relation to pre-application enquiries will be based on the officer's professional judgement and without prejudice to the formal consideration of any subsequent planning application.
Favourable pre-application advice cannot guarantee that a subsequent planning application will be successful. This is because when we receive a formal application it will be subject to further consultation and publicity which may raise other issues.
You should also bear in mind that any subsequent changes to planning legislation or planning policies may affect the advice given. The weight that can be given to pre-application advice will therefore diminish over time.
Following the receipt of advice you can submit a planning application.
In certain cases you may need to amend your proposal. If material amendments are required we will probably have to repeat the above process when you send us your revised proposal.
If necessary we may suggest that you contact relevant consultees to talk to separately in relation to specific issues.
Planning applications should include a waste management strategy incorporating all areas covered in the 
Waste Storage and Collection Guidance for Domestic and Commercial Developments document. [2.23MB]
This guide is designed to help in the production of a strategy and a template can be found in appendix F of the document.
The guidance should be used from the earliest stages of building design. Adequate bin storage areas, access for collection crews and vehicles, and other aspects of waste management are potentially difficult and costly to apply retrospectively.
The recommendations made within the document are integral to the design of a building and provide information that is useful for building designers. Compliance with these guidelines assures planning officers that a suitable waste management strategy has been developed.
Waste storage areas should be clearly identified on plans, and also proposed kerbside collection points where applicable.
Preston City Council Waste Management acting as the waste collection authority are happy to informally advise developers with respect to their waste management strategy at the pre-planning stage, and are especially keen to encourage dialogue with regard to larger developments where impact on services is most keenly felt. For further information please contact us on 01772 906786 or email m.sharp@preston.gov.uk.
