The Planning System
The planning process provides a way of controlling how land is used and what can be built and where. The system helps to meet the need for uses of land for housing, employment, education and social facilities while seeking to protect and improve the environment. It therefore aims to strike a balance between conservation of the built and natural environment with development that is necessary for economic prosperity or social need.
Warwick District Council prepares and adopts various documents to guide this process, including its Local Plan which consists of maps and policies to show where and in what quantity various types of development will be permitted. The Council also operates a Development Control system to make sure that proposed development conforms to the Local Plan and other guidance.
Planning Policy
The role of planning policy is to guide and inform land use planning decisions.
Planning policies are set out at a number of levels. The Government provide planning policy statements at a national level on most types of new development, e.g. housing and transport. Regional level planning policies are set out in the Regional Spatial Strategy which directs growth and sets targets for new development within a specific region, e.g. the West Midlands.
At the local level, the Local Plan contains the planning policies that distribute growth within the district and sets standards for the type and nature of new development that will be permitted. The Council adopted its local plan in September 2007 and the full version can be viewed on this website. In addition, the Council has prepared Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) which contains more detailed policies and guidance.
Development Control
Development Control is the part of the planning system that makes sure that all proposed development meets the requirements for that location laid down in the Local Plan and in other guidance.
Planning applications are required for development of land or buildings, including extending or changing the use of an existing building. However, there are certain "permitted development" rights for both businesses and residential houses which allow some types of development without the need for planning permission. There are also different regulations governing the display of outdoor advertising, developments affecting 'listed' buildings of architectural, historic or cultural importance, and demolition of unlisted buildings in conservation areas.
You can also Search for a Planning Application on the website,which will give brief details of all applications received over approximately the past 5 years.
The development Control team of the Planning and Engineering Department deal with approximately two thousand applications per year, ranging from small householder applications to large multi-million pound developments.
If you undertake development without the required permission, Warwick District Council may ask you to make a retrospective planning application. If it decides that permission should not be granted, it may require you to put things back as they were via Enforcement Action. You can appeal, but if the Councils decision is upheld, and the development remains in place, prosecution action may be taken.
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