Assessing applications

The assessment of an application should consider whether it complies with policy as far as it is feasible and viable to do so. The information on the Feasibility and Viability pages will help you in making that judgement but it is important to understand that, particularly where your LPA has not yet fully developed policy in this area, you can apply the requirements of higher level policy and strategy as a material consideration.

The principles governing the determination of planning applications are clearly set out in paragraph 11 of the Climate Change PPS. It highlights a clear framework for the creation of local requirements for decentralised energy to supply new development and any local requirements for sustainable buildings.

The requirements in Development Plan Documents (DPDs) generally have the most weight, particularly where they have been through a local inquiry or regional examination and are formally adopted by the Council or approved by the Secretary of State. If requirements are included in a DPD, then they should not be introduced in a supplementary planning document (SPD) or applied on an ad hoc basis when individual planning applications come in.

The diagram below indicates the relative weight of various policies which may be considered material in assessing applications.

You should refer to the Policy context section to understand the national policies and strategies in place which should be followed in the absence of an adopted local policy and in particular the Mitigation key strategies and Mitigation key legislation sections.

Using the above diagram and the contents of the sections noted above should help you in assessing applications particularly where no local requirements exist as developers are likely to have fallen back on much less specific requirements contained in higher level policy or strategy.