Planning permission fronting a highway

[RosyBelle]

We are considering extending or adding a conservatiory to the rear of our property and into our back garden. I have been a bit confused by the regs regarding applying for planning as it says "No extension forward of the principal elevation or side elevation fronting a highway"

We plan to extend on our rear elevation - not our principal or side elevation. However we are on the end of a row and the rear of the property backs onto a country lane and therefore a highway. We have the rear elevation, garden, fences (&hedging approved by planners)and then the pavement and road. Does this mean we do not need planning or will not get planning??

Any advice really appreciated.

You might need planning- its fairly complex and there has been case law in relation to this issue. You should check with the local planning authority and get a reply in writing- if permission isn't required a letter stating so can really help if you ever decide to sell up.

Thank you Sausagedog!

The paperwork you need is a "Certificate of Lawfulness", current cost is approx £75, issued by your local authority to say planning permission was not required.

If you're still looking.... I think you will need full planning permisiion. We did a rear extension that would have been within permitted development, however there is a road that runs along the back of our garden so the whole job counted as "fronting a highway" and needed full planning permission.

Thank you BWTSS - thats what I was afraid of.... was it difficult to get planning or did they just say yes? it would also be within permitted development.

Planning is a minefield these days as it's in a state of flux at the moment as new legislation is going through. In theory this should make it easier but at least in the short term it's not. It's really local authority dependent - you will need to speak to them and see how they view it. Good news is as a householder they should be relatively helpful, advice should be free and the process if you need it relatively quick as long as it's something simple and unlikely to be contentious (i.e in a conservation area).
Some LA's are very overworked at the moment due to the changes and cutbacks hitting them at the same time - so if you do need to apply double check your paperwork (fairly simple for householders - council will have a checklist) as they are more likely to knock back/ not validate applications to give themselves more time (they must consider within a certain period of time ... Minor apps = 8wks)
My advice would be to phone and chat to them first and see where you stand.

I work in architecture so have made many many planning apps and the current system is driving me nuts thankfully it's simpler if you are a householder rather than a professional.
Good luck

You can get free pre-planning advice from your planning department. You write a letter describing what you would like to do and they come back to you within 2 weeks with a broad view of how they as planning officers feel about it (whether they would support it), what type of permission you need and whether there have already been any precedents in your area.
This saved me thousands in planning consultants fees a few years ago.

Lizcat it depends on the council - each one tends to do it slightly differently , some do letters, others meetings and others phone calls. Some councils offer free advice others charge a fee - some offer some advice for free with more in depth advice costing a fee (usually under £100) - best thing to do is to go on the local authorities website and see what applies in your area. Many have only brought in fees for householders recently.