Frequently Asked Questions

Planning covers issues such as the size of development as it impacts on immediate neighbours and the community. Planning policy is partly the result of local policy as well as national policy, and public consultation is part of the planning process. Building control is there to ensure that national standards required in the construction of buildings are met. Because these are two separate pieces of legislation they are handled by separate application processes, and some building work requires building control consent but not planning permission. For a guide as to whether you might need planning permission or building control consent for work that you want to do, see these pages which are on the Planning Portal, a government website.