Planning pre-application advice

The benefits of pre-application advice include:

• gives you the opportunity to understand how policies and guidance will be applied to your development proposal this includes the requirements for developer contributions for certain applications
• can identify at an early stage where there is a need for specialist input, for example contamination, transport, ecology
• may flag up that the proposal is unacceptable which could save the cost of submitting a formal application
• may lead to a reduction in time dealing with the formal application

Advice we will provide:

• an assessment of the planning merits of a proposal
• how the proposal relates to key local plan policies and guidance
• details of submission requirements
• advice on the likely timescale for completing the planning process
• an outline of the material planning issues

Please be aware that pre-application advice will be made at officer level only and cannot guarantee whether an application will ultimately be successful. We will not seek input from external stakeholders, for example Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Scottish Natural Heritage, at this stage.

However, we will identify any relevant agencies where we think it would be beneficial for you to make contact. We will also identify internal stakeholders to you as well.

We provide a free pre-application advice service for householder proposals, and for proposals by not for profit community organisations and registered charities.

This service can be used for advice and guidance on the merits of your proposals where you wish our informal advice prior to submitting an application for planning permission.

Householder proposals

Householder proposals refers to proposals by householders to extend or improve their homes such as:

• garages
• extensions
• decking

Local developments

Local developments are other proposals and can include:

• residential development proposals for one house or more
• changes of use
• signage proposals
• commercial, business and agricultural

Please note this list is not exhaustive.

Major developments

Major developments refer to any type of development which meet the thresholds specified in The Town and Country Planning (Hierarchy of Developments) (Scotland) Regulations 2009.

Permitted development

Certain works to houses and flatted properties can be 'permitted development' which means that the works would not require planning permission. Further information can be found at:

• Scottish Government: Development management
• National Records of Scotland: Householder permitted development rights (PDF 2.77 MB)

The Planning Service cannot advise you when a proposal is permitted development and not requiring planning permission.

If you are trying to find out if a proposal requires planning permission then you should complete a Certificate of Lawfulness application.

Forms and guidance notes can be downloaded at ePlanning.scot.

We can advise you of the different classes of permitted development so you can establish for yourself/your client (if you are an agent) should you not wish to apply for a Certificate of Lawfulness from the ePlanning website.

Find out more about planning permission.

We also provide a chargeable pre-application advice service for non-householder proposals.

Fees for a non-householder pre-application are as follows:

• local applications: half the planning application fee for the proposal up to a maximum of £1,000 for any local application
• major applications: half the planning application fee for the proposal up to a maximum of £1,600, unless where in the case of residential developments the proposal is for 100 or more units in which case the fee will be £3,000

The chargeable pre-application advice service does not replace the requirement to pay a statutory planning application fee should you choose to submit a planning correlated application.

No charges will continue to be applied for householder and not for profit community organisations and registered charities.

Request planning pre-application advice

Should you wish to make a request for pre-application advice, further guidance and an application can be found below:

Pre-application enquiry form (PDF 314 KB)

The completed form should be returned with all supporting information to the email address below, and your fee if your request is for a chargeable non-householder.

You can pay by card by contacting us on the telephone number below.

Whether you will be submitting a 'local' planning application (such as changes of use, small scale business/commercial, or proposals for less than 50 houses) or a major planning application (such as a proposal for more than 50 houses), pre-application advice helps to:

• highlight key issues early in the process
• identify where further information may be required, and
• opportunities for improvements to your proposal

For major developments, key consultees may also be involved, particularly those internal to the council such as Ayrshire Roads Alliance and Environmental Health. In addition, the pre-application process will provide increased certainty on information requirements and processing timescales.

It is important to note that once the pre-application process has been concluded and you submit your planning application, we will consider your application on the basis of the scheme and information submitted at the time of making the application.

Obtaining pre-application advice can therefore prove to be very beneficial in providing certainty for your development proposal and the necessary information which should be to be submitted with your planning application.

You should provide:

• a planning pre-application enquiry form (PDF 313 KB)
• a location plan sufficient to reasonably locate the property in relation to surrounding geography
• a block plan, at a suitable scale, so as to understand the relationship of the proposal within the context of the boundaries of the site and how the development may impact upon neighbouring properties
• any sketch plans suitable to understand the design of the proposal and how it relates to existing buildings on site
• for proposed changes of use, please provide floor plans, as existing and as proposed
• where possible, photographs of the site and buildings which can be annotated as necessary
• any additional supporting or explanatory statements as possible

The Planning Service will commence the processing of your enquiry upon receipt of a completed application form, drawings, any relevant supplementary information and the necessary fee:

• householder and enquiries from ’not for profit’ community organisations and registered charities: no charge
• non-householder development and all local applications: 50% of the planning application fee, and a maximum of £1,000)
• major applications: half the planning application fee for the proposal and up to a maximum of £1,600 unless, where in the case of residential developments the proposal is for 100+ units, in which the case fee will be £3,000

The chargeable pre-application advice service does not replace the requirement to pay a statutory planning application fee should you choose to submit a planning or related application.

Advisory note: Householder proposals refers to proposals by householders to extend or improve their homes such as garages, extensions and decking although this list is not exhaustive.

Local Developments refer to any other proposals and can include:

• residential development proposals for one house or more
• changes of use
• signage proposals
• commercial, business and agricultural although again this list of examples is not exhaustive

Major developments refer to any type of development which meet the thresholds specified in The Town and Country Planning (Hierarchy of Developments) (Scotland) Regulations 2009).

We will acknowledge your enquiry and provide contact details for the case officer.

We would expect to deal with your preapplication enquiry within the following timescales:

• local pre-application – 30 working days
• major pre-application – 40 working days

Some cases may be more complex and take longer to consider. If this happens, the case officer will contact you and explain why it is not possible to respond within the stated timescales and in doing so, will advise you of the amended timescales for a response.

Within 10 working days from the receipt of the above, you can expect to receive an acknowledgement of your request and confirmation of the assigned case officer.

For less complex local applications, we will provide you with our written assessment of your proposals.

We may contact you to suggest a meeting or a telephone discussion prior to our formal reply however this will be dependent upon the specifics of each case and the complexity of the proposals. A meeting is not required in every case. We may invite any internal stakeholders to any meeting and in our reply we will generally advise you of any contacts with other organisations that might be relevant.

For major applications which are generally more significant and raise a range of issues, we will usually suggest a meeting and we would seek to invite other internal stakeholders as relevant. This could include, for example, officers from Ayrshire Roads Alliance (traffic and/or flooding), Environmental Health, Housing or Planning Policy.

Any meeting or telephone discussion with a planning officer provides an opportunity for you to explain in further detail your proposal and for a planning officer to understand and discuss the aspects of the development that may influence the assessment at the formal planning application stage.

All pre-application requests submitted will receive a written response, confirming, or otherwise, the likely acceptability of the principle of the development, any aspects that should be amended and any suggestions that we consider may add value and enhance your proposal.

We will endeavour to provide as constructive advice as possible, and:

• identify information that is likely to be required to accompany a planning application such as a design statement or tree survey
• Identify any pertinent planning policy issues including developer contributions and affordable housing requirements if relevant at this early stage so developers can plan for those requirements
• any possible planning obligations or infrastructure/service provisions you may be required to meet as the developer, if known
• generally include an officer view as to whether or not planning permission is likely to be granted
• identify any process or timetable issues for processing a planning application
• draw your attention to key consultees and their contact details for you to make contact

We will aim to treat your enquiry on a confidential basis. We may however share the details of your enquiry, as necessary, with other Council services in order to be able to provide you with our advice.

We will process your personal data in accordance with our privacy statement. Upon request and under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act, any information provided as part of a pre-application enquiry may need to be made available. We cannot therefore give an assurance that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances.

Please submit your application online using the ePlanning.scot website where there is detailed guidance to help you through the process. There will be no additional administration charge for applications submitted online.

We will charge an administration fee for all paper submissions which is in addition to the relevant statutory application fee and any advertisement fee, if required. We therefore encourage all our customers to make online submissions where possible.

Administration fees

Our charges for paper submissions are as follows:

• householder applications: £25
• non householder applications: £50
• major applications: £100

Exemptions to this charge are:

• customers who are registered disabled with a visual impairment
• pre-application requests
• pre-application screening notice
• proposal of application notice
• modification or discharge of planning obligations
• high hedges form

Historic planning applications

Historic planning applications are available to search on our website. This may assist in understanding how other proposals were considered.

If you wish the Planning Service to carry out a planning history search for you for a specific building or piece of land please submit your request with details to identify the specific building or land in question to the email address below.

The cost of the historic planning search is payable on submission of your request. We will contact you thereafter to make payment.

Policies and guidance

Further information on development plans and policies and supplementary planning guidance is available to assist in the application process.

Online mapping

Our online mapping service allows you to view Ordnance Survey maps with various layers of map information.