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Legislation and Policy

There are many things to be taken into consideration when looking at a planning application. These include national legislation, local policies and site constraints.

Legislation

There are certain pieces of legislation which tell us how to run the planning service. This legislation is national and must be complied with, the most common ones are:

This sets out the types of development which do not require a planning application as they have already been granted permission by the Secretary of State. Parts of this order have subsequently been amended or updated.

This groups different uses of land or buildings into classes to help control what goes where.

This sets out the duties of a planning authority and what it is responsible for. This includes specific areas of legislation covering the following:

This provides the legislation for dealing with Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and a code to protect architectural heritage.

This sets out the enforcement powers the planning authority has. Find out more about planning enforcement.

This consolidates the Town and Country planning (General Development Procedure) Order 1995 and explains how to submit an application, how to lodge an appeal, who should be consulted and when.

Sets out the way Local Authorities apply for and get planning permission.

Sets out the different types of advertisements and gives some of them consent without the need to make a specific application.

Planning constraints

There may be things which affect a specific site or area which have to be taken into account when dealing with a planning application. These include;

  •  Flooding

Some parts of the Borough (particularly those along the River Trent) are a risk from flooding. If a site lies within an area at risk of flooding we may have to take advice from the Environment Agency.

If the site lies within a floodplain, a flood risk assessment will be required.

If the water table is high, if the proposal would drain into a stream or river or would otherwise not have mains drainage then a drainage assessment may be required.

To assist with planning applications, a flood map for planning.

  •  Contaminated Land

Some sites may have been used before, and these previous uses may have resulted in the land becoming contaminated. There may be a need for developers in these areas to look out for potential contamination when they start work, or to prepare a report before staring work saying how they will deal with contamination to make sure the sites are safe.

  •  Protected Species

A number of wild animals and plants are protected by legislation; where a planning proposal may impact on protected species, an assessment must be provided on what the impact may be and consider how to reduce this impact. To determine if protected species are present on a site will often require an ecological survey to be carried out. Most ecological surveys and mitigation work can only be undertaken at specific times of the year. Advice is provided on the GOV website protected species and sites.

  • Nature Conservation Sites

There are 8 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) in Rushcliffe. These are sites which are of national importance for nature conservation and have statutory protection. There are 203 Sites important for Nottinghamshire within the Borough (called Local Wildlife Sites (LWS)). See also our Nature conservation page.

It is expected that a check has been made that protected sites will not be impacted by any proposed development; where there is an impact a ecological assessment should be included with the development proposals.

Ecological assessments carried out in support of planning applications should include a desktop study for existing ecological information. This desktop study must include consultation with the Nottinghamshire Biological and Geological Records Centre (and can also include a search of the National Biodiversity Network online). See the guidance on Nottingham City Council website for further details.

A leaflet about local wildlife sites is available in the related documents to the right of this page. Maps of these sites are shown on the Insight Mapping website.

Rushcliffe Borough Council has also declared some sites as Local Nature Reserves (LNRs).

 

Related documents

Useful links

 

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