Planning permission is required for all building, engineering or mining works or a change of use of a building or land unless the works are permitted development within the planning legislation.
Read about Developments of National Significance
1. Do I need to apply for planning permission?
Planning permission is required for “development” as defined in Section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act.
Development is normally granted either by a Development Order, such as the Town and Country Planning General Permitted Development Order 1995 (as amended) (known as “Permitted Development”) or by an application to the Local Planning Authority.
Permitted Development - advice
Permitted development rights set out the conditions and limitations which control extensions and alterations to your house and other works within the curtilage of your property such as erecting outbuildings and providing hard surfaces.
Please note that the Regulations are different in England and Wales and it is important you consider the Welsh Regulations.
Under permitted development, you may be able to carry out works without the need to formally apply for planning permission.
Welsh Government offer advice and guidance on their website regarding permitted development for householders and on common projects.
The planning portal also provides additional advice.
Whilst the previously mentioned resources give good guidance, it's always advisable to check your proposals against the legislation directly to ensure what is proposed does constitute permitted development.
The householder permitted development enquiries process with associated fee of £25 and permitted development enquiry form ceased on 1 April 2023.
However, the Local Planning Authority does provides a Duty Planning Officer service to provide general, informal advice on general planning queries on Mondays (face-to-face or phone) and Thursdays (phone during the hours specified on the Contact the Planning Team page).
Specific advice on planning applications should be directed to the case officer who will be familiar with the proposals.
Any advice given by the Local Planning Authority represents an Officer’s informal opinion and is not legally binding on the Council. For a legally binding decision on permitted development matters you must apply for a Certificate of Lawfulness.
Before starting any work you are obliged to ensure that you have all necessary permissions in place (including Building Regulations). Any unauthorised development carried out without planning permission could be liable to enforcement action and subsequent prosecution by the council.
If you need to apply for planning permission via an application for your proposal, the Local Planning Authority would strongly recommend you to seek Pre-application Advice prior to formally submitting an application, though there is a charge for this service. Further guidance and charges can be found on our pre-application advice page.
Pre-application Advice will provide guidance on the merits of a proposal considered against relevant planning policies, rather than advise whether an application for planning permission is required or not.
Under the Section 6 duty of the Environment (Wales) Act 2016, the Council must seek to maintain and enhance biodiversity and promote ecosystem resilience.
The Resilient Wales Goal of the Well-being of Future Generations Act 2015 states: ''A nation which maintains and enhances a biodiverse natural environment with healthy functioning ecosystems that support social, economic and ecological resilience and the capacity to adapt to change (for example climate change).
" The Future Wales National Plan includes Policy 9: "...In all cases, action towards securing the maintenance and enhancement of biodiversity (to provide a net benefit), the resilience of ecosystems and green infrastructure assets must be demonstrated as part of development proposals through innovative, nature based approaches to site planning and the design of the built environment."
The provision of biodiversity enhancement features will be proportionate to the scale, location and nature of the development and will respond to any information provided in Ecological Reports and Surveys regarding the potential negative effects of the development and opportunities for the enhancement of biodiversity that the proposed development affords.
It is important that developers and applicants have regard to these requirements when making their applications.
Further guidance relating to this, can be found here.
Contact
Contact planning services at Newport City Council.