Newark & Sherwood District Council

The pre-application phase of development management is part of a positive and proactive planning process. Engagement prior to any planning application being formally submitted can be critically important and should provide the applicant and the Council with the opportunity to gain a clear understanding of the objectives of and constraints on development.

It also provides an opportunity for wider engagement, where appropriate, with other stakeholders, including the local community, which can deliver better outcomes for all parties.

We provide a comprehensive pre application advice service. In order to provide a high quality and efficient service, which includes amongst other things consultation with key stakeholders, a service fee is required.

The aim of this service is to deliver wherever possible timely, responsive, constructive and reliable advice so as to save significant resources by allowing an applicant not to pursue schemes which are unacceptable, or have to be modified once they’ve been submitted.

Pre-application engagement can:

• Give you an opportunity to understand how our policies will be applied to your development and you can identify and resolve potential problems helping to prevent costly and time-consuming amendments to schemes later
• Help to reduce the time spent by professional advisors in working up a proposal
• Significantly increase the likelihood of gaining planning permission or alternatively indicate whether a proposal has little or no realistic chance of success, thus saving you considerable time and money
• Identify at an early stage whether any specialist advice is necessary, for example,  listed buildings, trees, landscape, transport, ecology or archaeology
• Will help ensure that any application is complete avoiding any unnecessary delays in validating and determining the application

Anybody wishing to apply for planning permission is strongly advised to use this service. Applications that have been submitted  in the absence of any pre-application discussions are likely to be refused without further negotiation where significant amendments are required to make the development acceptable.

All requests for pre application advice must be made via a  pre application advice form. Please note that you must provide the minimum level of information set out in the form to ensure that appropriate and timely advice can be given.

For householder development you can seek advice as to whether planning permission is required by completing a Do I need planning permission exemption form, for which a fee is payable.

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