10/10/10 - ONGOING
Planning Proposal, MFC
MATTHEW BELL BSc Architectural Studies
The Planning Proposal Process Before I got into the planning proposal, I set up a meeting with the client and a local council planning officer to discuss the design and its feasibility. The officer seemed to be happy with most aspects but did raise a question about size. He thought that the only question that may be brought up would be on the Cart lodges scale in relation to the host dwelling, although he did concede that he could not see how it could be made smaller. The meeting was a great experience for me; I felt like I was respected as a designer and listened to in the discussion. From this I felt confident in starting the planning process.
Having no experience whatsoever with gaining planning permission I just decided to get online and start researching it. I quickly found my way to the planning portal website and on there found a guide to planning permission. Reading the documents it all seemed relatively strait forward so I registered on the Portal and started the application. I found that they ask for the information in specific formats which meant I had to revise allot of my work. I also had to set up a page layout to provide consistency and ease of viewing. But other than that the whole process was relatively pain free. I always presumed that the planning process would be hard to work through but on the contrary it seems very logical. Setting the drawing out also helped me file my own work, and proved a good exercise in managing my documents.
I submitted for planning approval on the 10th of November 2010 and received an email the next day saying the application would be decided within an 8 week period.