To get a Pembrokeshire planning application through the system in Pembrokeshire now requires a considerable amount of professional expertise and assistance. There is, for a start, a whole raft of requirements to meet even before a planning application can be what is termed ‘ validated’ – that means the scope of material submitted in support of the application must meet a list of standard requirements. Failure to meet any of the listed requirements will result in a request from the planning authority to supply that information within a set number of days (normally 14 working days) and if the stated timeline is not met the applicant can then either withdraw the application (and start all over again) or have it cancelled and returned by the planning authority.
These planning requirements (or criteria) are clearly and comprehensively outlined in Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) documents which are available from the local planning departments and their web-sites in Pembrokeshire.
If an applicant disagrees that more information is required written justification can be put to the planning department setting out the reasons why that specific information is not appropriate in that case. If the planners agree that the information is not necessary to determine the application it will be validated.
If an applicant does not agree with the planners requirement for further information there is a right to challenge the decision not to validate an application. This is a right of appeal under Section 78 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the ground being non-determination of the application within the 8-week determination period. However, a strong word of caution here as such an appeal would have to be lodged before the application is returned or cancelled. Also, the appeal process can take around 10 weeks for a decision to be issued and that is essentially another 2.5 months of ‘dead-time’ time taken out of a project.
For expert guidance on planning application preparation, presentation and processing ckplanning is the areas foremost professional planning consultant when it comes to getting a planning application validated in Pembrokeshire or elsewhere.