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Planning for Business
Businesses need to expand and change to adapt to market
conditions and trends. Recent changes in planning legislation have
made it easier to do this.
Is your business looking to;
Signs or adverts
You need consent for almost all hoardings, illuminated signs
outside the deemed consent allowances, fascia signs and projecting
signs on shop fronts or business premises which are higher than
4.6m above ground level and most advertisements on gable ends. You
also need permission for signs advertising goods not sold at the
premises where the sign is placed.
The Council take into account how the local residents and
highway safety are affected. Some advice on this is available
in Planning
Policy Guidance Note 19 – Outdoor Advertisement Control. For
example, if an advertisement would visually dominate a group of
'listed' buildings or a residential area it is more likely to be
refused.
But where there are large buildings and main highways, for
example in industrial or commercial areas, the local planning
authority may grant consent for a large hoarding which might not
look out of place.
Considerations do not usually include content, subject
matter, or decency. These factors are controlled by a voluntary
code of conduct supervised by the Advertising Standards
Authority.
Public safety means the safety of road traffic, other modes of
transport or pedestrians. The local planning authority assesses
likely effects on driver behaviour and possible confusion with
traffic signs or signals.
The local planning authority knows that advertisements are
intended to attract people's attention, so signs would not
automatically be regarded as a distraction to road users. However,
what really matters is whether a sign is so distracting or
confusing that it creates a danger.
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Listed Buildings & Conservation Areas
You need to make a Listed Building Consent application to
demolish or alter a Listed Building or to demolish a building
in a Conservation Area.
Elsewhere
You will not normally need to apply for planning permission to
knock down your house or any of its outbuildings, unless the
council has made an 'Article 4 direction' restricting the
demolition or alterations you could normally carry out under
permitted development rules.
However, where demolition of any kind of residential property is
proposed, the council may wish to agree the details of how you
intend to carry out the demolition and how you propose to restore
the site afterwards. You will need to apply for a formal decision
on whether the council wishes to approve these details before you
start demolition. This is what is called a 'prior approval
application' and we will be able to explain what it involves.
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Working from home
You do not usually need planning permission to work from home.
The key test is whether the overall character of the home will
change as a result of a business being conducted from the
property. In short; is it still mainly a residential
property?
If the answer to any of the following questions is yes, then
permission will probably be needed.
- Will your home no longer be used mainly as a private home?
- Will your business result in a marked rise in traffic or
visitors?
- Will your business involve any activities unusual in a
residential area?
- Will your business disturb your neighbours at unreasonable
hours or create other forms of nuisance such as noise or
smells?
Whatever business you carry out from your home - perhaps using
part of it as a bedsit or for bed-and-breakfast accommodation,
using a room as an office, childminding, using rooms for
dressmaking or music teaching, using buildings in the garden for
repairing cars or storing goods connected with a business – the key
test is: is it still mainly a home or has it become a business
premises?
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