Pre application Advice and Guidance

The Council offers a pre-application advice service where Planning Officers provide advice to customers prior to the submission of a planning application.

Pre-application discussions are encouraged by the Council as they improve the quality of planning applications, speed up the planning process and reduce the number of unsuccessful planning applications. During the pre-application process Planning Officers will confirm what information must accompany an application to make it valid and provide applicants with general guidance on the relevant planning policies and material considerations.

Types of Pre Application Advice available

Currently the Council offers two pre-application services depending on the customers needs:

  1. Pre-Application Advice (PAA); this service is largely provided via emails or phone calls with the Duty Planner seeking advice regarding general queries on planning policies, material considerations, fees etc.

Applications that fall within this PAA service include queries in relation to extending dwellings, change of use of vacant premises, development of single houses within the countryside or small scale industrial or business uses etc.

There is no fee for this service.  The Duty Planning Officer can be contacted by email at planning@fermanaghomagh.com or by telephone on 0300 303 1777.

  1. Pre-Application Discussions (PADs); this service is available for larger schemes and general queries in advance of the submission of a planning application.

PAD enquiries must be submitted in writing to the Council using the Planning Portal and must be accompanied by the following essential information:

  • Supporting statement setting out the nature of what is proposed,
  • Location plan with the site outlined in red & any neighbouring land in the applicant’s ownership marked in blue,
  • Sketch plans of proposed site layout, location of the access and parking etc
  • The relevant PAD fee (see Fees section below).

The following information must also be submitted, where it is relevant to the proposal and necessary to allow meaningful comment:

  • Existing and proposed elevations,
  • Copies of planning history,
  • Photographs of the site and surroundings,
  • Technical studies that are required and available at the time of the submission of the  PAD, for example; Transport Assessment Forms, Flood Risk Assessment, Drainage  Assessment, Contamination risk Report, Noise Report, Air Quality Impact Assessment,  Tree Report etc.

On receipt of a valid PAD the Council will allocate the enquiry a planning reference number and provide the customer with the name of the Planning Officer who will respond to the enquiry.  This will be a Senior Planning Officer within the Council.

The Council will review the enquiry and seek comments from any consultees who have expertise in any issues that the development may involve, e.g. DfI Roads, DAERA NIEA etc.  The Council will only carry out consultation where information has been provided e.g., in a Supporting Statement or in a Report which allows the consultee to provide a meaningful response.  In the absence of this information the response will refer to any standing advice that may be relevant.  The comments from consultees will be made available as part of the process.

A meeting will be arranged to discuss the PAD within 4 weeks of the submission of the valid PAD where advice and guidance will be provided on the relevant planning policies and material considerations and the comments of consultees.  The Senior Officer will also provide advice on the likely outcome of any application if it was submitted and provide suggestions and advice in relation to any area of conflict with policy.   Further meetings can be agreed, if necessary, at the request of the Applicant.

The Senior Officer will provide a substantive response to the PAD within 6 weeks of the submission of the valid PAD and this advice will be a material consideration in the event of a planning application being submitted.

Any applications that are subsequently submitted to the Council and have taken advantage of the enhanced PAD service will be prioritized through the planning process to a recommendation and decision.

Fees

The proposed fees for this enhanced service are:

Local Applications:

  • 2-5 residential units  proposed fee of £300.
  • 6-10 residential units  proposed fee of £500.
  • 11-49 residential units  proposed fee of £1000.
  • 200  500 square metres commercial floor space – proposed fee of £500.
  • 501  999 square metres commercial floor space – proposed fee of £1000.
  • All other local development – proposed fee of £1000.

Major Applications:

  • 50+ residential units  proposed fee of £1250.00
  • All other Major development  proposed fee of £1250.

The fee will include a meeting with a Senior Planning Officer.  All additional meetings will be charged at £150 per meeting.

There will be no charge for non-profit community related projects or charitable organisations.

There will also be an appropriate fee, where a planning application requires a planning agreement, so that the Council can recoup reasonable expenses incurred. This fee will be £700.

This information is available as a downloadble PDF