34. Norwich city council recognises the important role of planning in bringing long-term benefits for the city by supporting business growth and promoting sustainable development, as required by national policy.
35. Therefore the plan’s policies must ensure that development is responsibly planned to safeguard the city’s natural and built environment, meet community needs and implement the policies and objectives of the adopted JCS. This will ensure that the plan is effective and can enable managed growth in the city to strengthen Norwich’s role as a regional centre in the long-term as part of the overall development of greater Norwich.
36. Effective development management relies on negotiating a careful balance between enabling growth and protecting Norwich’s assets. This plan, with the Site allocations plan, will be the primary mechanism to inform that process.
37. Changes introduced through the Localism Act 2011 promote greater involvement of local people and interest groups in the planning process. In Norwich, developers are already required to carry out pre-application consultation on significant development proposals under the Statement of community involvement.
38. The council provides a range of pre-application advice services to assist applicants and streamline the planning process and will continue to review these to ensure the service provided is the best possible within the resources available. Details of the current pre-application advice services offered are available on the council’s website.
39. Over the plan period, the council expects to take advantage of new legislation to improve the effectiveness of its development management service and to remove unnecessary regulation. These include local fee setting and Local Development Orders to remove the need for planning permission for certain types of development.
The benefits of good information
40. A high quality submission for planning permission can contribute greatly to speedy and efficient decision making and support sustainable development. In order that they may be registered as valid and adequately considered against the policies that follow, all planning applications should be accompanied by the supporting information currently needed under national and local validation requirements.
41. Details on information requirements and thresholds are set out in the Norwich City Council validation checklist. Information is only requested when necessary to enable the application to be determined. The checklist will be reviewed regularly to reflect best practice and will be available on the Norwich City Council website and at the council’s offices. Failure to provide supporting documents essential to the determination of the application may lead to delays or the potential refusal of planning applications.
42. It is important that applicants show that development proposals are based on a full assessment of the site and how relevant policies in local development documents have been taken into account in relation to that site. The level of information required will depend on the complexity of the proposal and/or the characteristics of the site and area. Information from different assessments, such as energy statements, may be combined to form an overarching planning statement.
References
- Town and Country Planning (General Management Procedure) (England) Order 2010 (statutory instrument 2010 no. 2184) and subsequent amendments.
- NPPF: CLG, 2012
- Development management: information requirements for applications, paragraphs 192-193.
- National Planning Practice Guidance: CLG 2014: Before submitting an application; Making an application; Consultation and pre-decision matters.
- Norwich City Council validation requirements (interactive checklist incorporating both local and national requirements): https://www.norwich.gov.uk/downloads/file/1558/validation_requirements
- CLG Circular 06/2005: Biodiversity and Geological Conservation.
- Norfolk County Council travel plan guidance (online at www.norfolk.gov.uk)
- Design and access statements – How to write, read and use them; CABE (now Design Council CABE), 2006.
