Planning Matters

Planning and Development within the Parish

The Local Planning Authority consults the Parish Council on all applications that have been received within the parish boundary. The Parish Council has no authority over the final decision and can only make a comment to either support, remain neutral or has concerns relating to the application.

• Town and Parish councils have no planning powers.
• They are statutory consultees with the same rights as a member of the public.

The planners work under strict guidelines and have to judge applications based on certain criteria. It can often be confusing when commenting on applications to know exactly which matters will be taken into account by the planning officers and which will not, so below is a list of the relevant (material) and irrelevant (non-material considerations) to try to help make sure that your comments have the maximum impact.

Conservation Areas

You can check with your local planning authority (Aylesbury Vale District Council) to see if your proposed work is in a conservation area.If you live in a conservation area, you will need planning permission for relevant demolition in a conservation area to do the following:

• Demolish a building with a volume of more than 115 cubic metres. There are a few exceptions – you can get further information from Aylesbury Vale District Council.
• To demolish a gate, fence, wall or railing over 1 metre high next to a highway (including a public footpath or bridleway) or public open space; or over 2 metres high elsewhere.

Even if your proposals do not include the work mentioned above you should still check if an application is required. If your application is refused, granted with conditions or not determined within 8 weeks of it being validated by Aylesbury Vale District Council then you have the right to appeal to the Secretary of State.

What’s an Article 4 Direction?

Article 4 Directions can be invoked by the local planning authority (Aylesbury Vale District Council) to further prohibit the type of small alterations that would be usually allowed under Permitted Development rights even in a Conservation Area. These types of legislation specifically prohibit certain types of development and are specific to certain streets, parts of streets and even specific houses.

Typically they deal with repainting new colours on front doors, the banning of satellite dishes, even significant changes to gardens, and so on. Article 4 Directions can be specifically applied to houses – e.g. ‘at houses between 1-48 Church Road we only want front doors to have the following paint colour’ – or have a more blanket approach (such as ‘in the Churchill Conservation Area, we won’t allow satellite dishes at all without specific planning permission’).

Article 4 Directions are not specific to Conservation Areas and can be made outside of them — but by their nature, tend to be common in Conservation Areas. They are administered by the local planning authority (until a few years ago, the Secretary of State had to approve all Article 4 Directions) and, particularly in Conservation Areas, can be applied immediately, without consultation, if the local planning authority requires it.

If you want to make a change to your house that is prohibited by an Article 4, you will have to apply for planning approval. You can appeal against a decision, but you cannot appeal against an Article 4 Direction being applied to your house.

Material Planning Considerations – these are matters which planners have to take into account so your objections should be based on them.

• Local and National planning policies
• Overlooking/loss of privacy
• Loss of daylight/sunlight or overshadowing
• Scale and dominance
• Layout and density of buildings
• Appearance and design of development and materials proposed
• Disabled persons’ access
• Highway safety
• Traffic and parking issues
• Drainage and flood risk
• Noise, dust, fumes, pollution etc
• Impact on character or appearance of area
• Effect on listed buildings and conservation areas
• Effect on trees and wildlife/nature conservation
• Impact on the community and other services
• Economic impact and sustainability – is proposal viable?
• Planning history/previous planning decisions (including appeal decisions)
• Government Policy

Non-material Planning Considerations – these are the matters which are not relevant to planners.

• Who the applicant is/the applicant’s background
• Loss of views
• Loss of property value for adjoining property
• Loss of trade or increased competition for existing businesses
• Strength or volume of local opposition
• Construction noise, disturbance, problems during development
• Fears of damage to property
• Maintenance of property
• Boundary disputes, covenants or other property rights
• Rights of way
• Personal circumstances are generally not a material planning consideration
• Financial gain for developer
• Moral objections
• Retrospective application (i.e.: an application for work which has already been carried out)
• Track-record of applicant/developer
• Amendment to previous scheme

If you have any objections we strongly advise that you make your comments known to Aylesbury Vale District Council by either writing to them or by commenting on the application directly via the Planning Portal (Direct Link). Clicking on the speech bubble or the application heading will take you directly to the Aylesbury Vale District Council Planning Portal (Direct Link) where you can access full details of the application, view any associated plans, read any comments made by the Parish Council and view the status and decision, if it has been made. This page is updated every Monday with applications that have been validated by the Planning Authority during the previous week.

Map Search

Planning Applications – for review by PC (summary)

Planning applications are formally listed on AVDC’s web site. Since May 2016 this PC website has maintained lists of applications in Waddesdon. These lists are not definitive – always refer to the AVDC website for correct status.