Information in applications

The type and level of information you can expect to see in an application will of course depend on

Sustainable energy

There are a range of issues around sustainable energy which you should expect applicants to have addressed in their submission. The level of detail will depend on whether it’s an outline or full (or reserved matters) application as well as the size and likely impact of the development.

The Information in applications checklist will give some guidance on what you might expect to see in each type of planning application and the Energy statement checklist sets out the detail of the type of information you might expect to see specifically relating the proposed strategy for meeting required sustainable energy policy.

You should note that information on the sustainable energy strategy may not specifically be called an ‘Energy Statement’ as it may be contained as part of a broader sustainability statement, design and access statement or other document but the requirements remain the same.

Some calculator tools provide a standard format for the calculation and presentation of energy performance figures for a development.www.pas.gov.uk/pas/core/page.do?pageId=94499 and it may be useful for you to consider suggesting the use of a format with which you are familiar in any pre-application discussions with the developer.

It is likely that some of the information required, or at least the basis for it, will already have been established in the development of the evidence base for the policy(ies) being addressed in the submission so you needn’t necessarily expect the developer to have done all of the work from scratch. That said you should expect to see professional interpretation of any information used. Look at Policy objectives and Principles of an evidence base for some background information on this.

Some decentralised and renewable or low carbon energy (DRLC) technologies are classed as permitted development for domestic applications, while others may be covered by Local Development Orders. Refer to Policy Objective – SE 9. Using local development orders to support SE deployment for more information.

Adaptation

The main design issues where developers and their design teams need to demonstrate their contribution to climate change adaptation are:

• location;
• site layout;
• buildings;
• ventilation and cooling;
• drainage;
• water;
• outdoor spaces; and connectivity

For each issue, you should ask the developer to demonstrate how they have addressed each of four key risk areas:

1. Increasing temperatures (overheating, solar gain)
2. Flooding
3. Decreasing water availability and quality
4. Unstable ground conditions

These risk areas may have been used by your planning officer colleagues to inform the evidence base for the development of each policy objective so it is recommended that a development checklist is consistent with this format too. As with sustainable energy, your validation checklists should be reviewed at least every three years, with minor amendments in response to statutory changes or Government guidance being made.