Fees for the Discharge of Planning Conditions
The Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications and Deemed Applications) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2008
Under the above legislation, the Government has introduced new fees to be charged by Local Planning Authorities for the discharge of planning conditions, as laid down in Statutory Instrument 958.
A fee is now payable where a written request is made for the discharge of one of more conditions on the same permission. The fee is payable per request and not per condition. The current fee is £85 per request (or £25 where the development is within the curtilege of a single dwellinghouse). The fee must be paid at the time of the request and cannot be received retrospectively. It does not matter when the application was submitted or permission was granted.
Requests to discharge conditions should be submitted on the national 1App form wherever possible. Requests made in writing clearly stating the application number and the numbers of the condition(s) you are requesting confirmation of discharge for are also acceptable.
The Government requires authorities to deal with all requests within 8 weeks of receipt, and the fee is refundable if the Council fails to respond within 12 weeks. There is no 'free go' if the Council deceides that the information submitted is not sufficient to discharge the condition. For larger developments where ongoing discussions and correspondance are necessary the Council will take a view as to whether a new fee is applicable dependant upon the amount of additional information required/submitted.
Requests to discharge planning conditions or to confirm that they have been complied with that are received without the appropriate fee will be returned unanswered.
D. Hall
DEVELOPMENT CONTROL MANAGER