Working with the local council: How to prepare for productive pre-app advice

In the intricate landscape of urban development and construction projects in the UK, the significance of well-informed decision-making cannot be emphasized enough. The early phases of any development pursuit lay the groundwork for its triumph, yet a recurring hurdle often emerges in the form of prolonged processing times for pre-application advice from local councils. Termed as "pre-app advice" or "pre-planning advice," this indispensable resource acts as a guiding beacon for architects, developers, and investors, steering them through the intricate regulatory maze while fine-tuning their proposals.

A central challenge, however, resides in the extended duration it takes to obtain this advice, potentially impeding project momentum. To address this, the strategic integration of digital planning tools comes to the fore. In this article, we delve into the pivotal role of pre-application advice in smoothing the planning process, fostering collaborative efforts, and propelling projects towards approval.

Join us as we unearth the intricacies of this indispensable tool and explore how leveraging digital planning tools can proactively prepare for pre-app advice meetings, expediting the journey from vision to fruition.

What pre-app advice services are offered by councils?

In the UK, local councils utilize the 'pre-app advice' process for any actions, consultations, or guidance sought prior to submitting a formal planning application. This preliminary stage encompasses both paid advisory services and interactive engagements, such as in-person or phone-based consultations with local planning officers. These fee-based pre-app advice services offered by councils coexist with various other initiatives, including engagement with stakeholders and the community.

A good pre-app advice service can resolve critical design decisions early and establish a productive working relationship with the local council. In other cases, it can also identify if a project is unlikely to receive consent easily.

Benefits of pre-application advice services can include:

• Saving costs and time by avoiding design choices that are unlikely to be approved
• Avoiding applications that are unlikely to proceed to development
• Reducing time for an approval decision when the application is submitted.
• Determining what to provide with the final application for a smoother approval process
• Improving the design by picking up on local issues and requirements
• Early clarity around likely contribution payments.

Example: Nottingham City Council pre-application advice service

With the introduction of design codes, an expanded pre-app process with the local authority that includes design reviews is an ideal mechanism to improve the quality of designs, particularly on challenging sites. For example, the

and pre-app process is an exceptionally well-developed example.

Applications that undertake pre-application consultation in Nottingham take ten weeks less on average to get planning approval compared to planning applications that don't make use of the service. They result in eleven fewer planning conditions than applications that don’t engage in the council's pre-application process.

In evaluating guidance from local authorities, it's crucial to factor in the expenses tied to the pre-app advice service. These charges fluctuate depending on the scope of the project and the specific local authority overseeing the application process.

Public Practice, a social enterprise focused on building public sector capacity for proactive planning, recently

.

The analysis highlighted notable discrepancies in both cost and service offerings pertaining to pre-app advice among different planning authorities. Below, you'll find the average expenses associated with projects of varying scales.

Overview of the average costs for an initial pre-application meeting with the local authority for projects of different sizes (Source: Public)

When you contemplate pre-application advice services of a local council, solicit a secondary evaluation of the service's quality for somebody who has used the service. This step allows for an informed assessment of whether the extra cost is justified.

Alternatively, insights from data-driven place analytics tools, such as

, can cross check capacity issues of local services and assets. You can also seek initiating discussions with local councillors and residents can serve as an initial step to engage in dialogues concerning crucial planning matters.

Common Challenges in the Pre-App Advice Process

Time delays are a key stumbling block for most pre-application advice services. Euqually, the quality of the pre-application advice service can differ significantly between local authorities. Local authority resources can be substantially stretched, and often even internal departments cannot jump the queue for advice from planning officers, and specialists in councils may take time to revert answers. Lastly, it is not always guaranteed that council representatives will have first hand on-site experience with the site you are working on.

• Workloads: High caseloads and time pressures can hurt an officers’ capacity for scrutiny, negotiation, or innovation of new ways of working.
• Churn: High staff turnover affects the consistency of advice and risks, reducing officer continuity benefits from pre-app through to application.
• Transparency: A lack of transparency in the pre-app service due to confidentiality risks generates a lack of trust between stakeholders.
• Skills: A perceived lack of specialist skills within some Authorities, such as design expertise or commercial awareness, can increase uncertainty or risk for applicants.
• Standards: A lack of benchmarking across Authorities in terms of fees, resourcing or applicant feedback can result in variable service standards.

In most cases, design teams should anticipate potential delays when awaiting formal pre-application advice. Seeking pre-application advice is expected to extend the project timeline by a minimum of two months, without factoring in any adjustments prompted by the advice itself. However, this investment in time can be balanced by a reduction in complications during the planning application phase.

Making the most of pre-app advice services

Do a baseline investigation before approaching the council. Before you consider applying for your pre-app advice with the local authority, research the area around your site in your own time with available data, ideally also incorporating insights from local people and organisations. This can be accelerated by powerful place analytics tools, such as PlaceChangers Site Insight.

The pre-application advice process is unlikely to be beneficial without a baseline investigation of the site to get a feel for what is possible.

The government advises as follows:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/before-submitting-an-application

Try to do the following to support your pre-application process with the local council.

• Get a planning consultant to review the development plans and local policies for your site.
• Generate a place report, e.g. on PlaceChangers Site Insights, to understand provision of critical social infrastructure, such as schools, health services, open spaces; and issues experienced by residents.
• Then consider the content of your proposal: do you propose to contribute economic value; what about social and environmental benefits to the immediate surroundings? What are the key impacts the proposal would have and on whom? 
• Consider which other local bodies or stakeholders you can connect with at an early stage? Local design bodies for instance.  
• Consider a phased approach to public engagement for large applications that also plans in time to take input from residents and other local stakeholders on your application.
• When applying for pre-app advice, provide clear and concise summaries of your proposals based on the investigation you've completed and develop a few specific questions that need an official response.
• Have a digital presentation of critical parameters of your plan that you can share beforehand. Digital parameter plans, for instance, can be annotated and help gather inputs from different departments faster than on paper. 
• Log key design issues from pre-app meets with the local authority and forward those issues to the relevant member in the team for follow-up. 

How digital tools can help prepare for the pre-app advice process

From a local authority perspective, the report by Public mentioned earlier also flagged the need for councils to develop a database for consistent record-keeping on processed pre-apps. There's also mention incorporating and developing capabilities to use 3D models and geo-tagged proposals. However, be prepared that councils may not necessarily have these resources in place to refer back to at a later stage. To support documentation and design workflow, you want to invest in your digital tools in house.

The PlaceChangers platform provides a suite of

that aid the design team during the pre-app phase. This tool enables applicants to create simple parameter plans.

The

provide a detailed overview of the provision of social facilities and the local population's makeup, which helps consider travel and green space requirements. It provide an excellent starting point to generate real-world insights at the pre-app stage.

With

you can invite feedback from the local planning authority, residents, and other stakeholders as part of a interactive consultation programme.

Explore the PlaceChangers planning toolkit

PC Engagement - market leading planning engagement

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