It is extremely common for building projects to not always run on time and this year has added significant pressure to building projects that are under planning conditions to be completed by a specified date.
Due to the turbulence that this year has brought, the Government have introduced extensions of planning permission timeframes for certain planning projects. ET Planning took advantage of this process for one of their clients building a replacement dwelling project in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire.
Planning permission for this replacement dwelling with a basement was granted in May 2017 with conditions that the project would be completed within three years, expiring May 2020.
The extension of time legislation added a requirement to seek further environmental approval from the Council. Instead of completing a whole new planning application, ET Planning took advantage of the new procedure and submitted a new type of application. This environmental extension of time application enables a statement to be submitted to the Local Planning Authority outlining and confirming that the previously submitted environmental assessments are still valid.
This statement was submitted by ET Planning on behalf of their client, and has now been approved, providing an environmental extension of time that matches the planning permission extension to May 2021.
This is a positive change for the planning system, allowing certain conditions to be reviewed and approved outside of a full application process, providing swifter responses and keeping costs down for the client.
If you have a planning project which has conditions which are soon due to expire and you’d like to know more about this new type of application, please contact us for an initial discussion.