Purpose

Increase in pre-application advice fees.

Decision

Breckland Council authorises the increase in
pre-application advice charging.

Reasons for the decision

The cost of delivering an efficient and
effective pre-application advice service lies with the Local
Planning Authority, despite developers and applicants benefiting
from the development.  Therefore, it is
considered that the proposed increased charges, not only align with
our neighbouring authorities’ charges (see Appendix for
details) but will assist with the costs that arise in delivering
this service. 
 
The average time taken for providing
pre-application advice varies depending on the type of advice
required and the scale of the development proposed.  Also, depending on the latter, the cost of
providing this service varies, as pre-application enquiries are
allocated to case officers depending on scale and
complexity.  For example,
pre-application enquiries for large scale/major developments are
dealt with by Principal Officers (or above) and pre-application
enquiries for householder extensions or small-scale development are
dealt with by Trainee Planners or Graduates.
 
Therefore, the fees and charges increase
depending on the scale of development and the costs of the staff
member dealing with the proposals.
 

Alternative options considered

·        
To authorise the increase in charges to pre-application advice

·        
Not to authorise the increase in charges to pre-application
advice