The planning system and non-material variations
The Council’s role is to assess planning applications, complaints and appeals. We do this by considering the development plan and other material considerations, including guidelines and other planning policy and advice documents. The Council approves or refuses planning applications based on planning laws, policies and other material considerations.
When planning permission is granted, conditions are often attached to the decision. These might cover a range of matters, for example, which materials you can and cannot use or a requirement for additional information. Conditions are imposed to allow the Council to further assess parts of the planning application which have not been fully considered during the application process, or to ensure additional requirements are undertaken. The Council’s role is to make sure that these conditions are fully addressed and that development is built as approved in the planning permission.
Following the grant of planning permission, applicants may wish to make changes to their proposed development. This may be for practical or design reasons. If an applicant wishes to make changes that do not raise new substantive planning considerations, these may be considered as non-material variations to the planning application. This guide on non-material variations explains what they are and how we deal with them.