Pre-application advice service

Pre-application advice helps you understand relevant issues and policies, improving your chances of a successful application.

What should be submitted for a pre-application enquiry

The quality of advice depends on the information you provide. To ensure useful feedback, you should submit:

• The application form and fee
• Sufficient plans and supporting documents to clearly explain your proposals

Please note that all plans/drawings, photographs, visualisations, assessments, comments or other materials submitted as part of a pre-application enquiry must comply with the East Suffolk Council Artificial Intelligence Policy. Particular regard must be given to paragraph 6.9 of that policy, including declaring where AI has been used in the creation or alteration of items that are submitted, and how it has been used.

Pre-application enquiry process

Once submitted and paid, your enquiry will be assigned to an officer who will:

• check relevant national regulations
• confirm if the site or building has special status (e.g. listed, Conservation Area)
• review any existing planning conditions or designations

They will assess whether consent is required.

If requested, they will also provide an informal view on whether consent is likely to be granted, along with:

• relevant planning policies and constraints
• required supporting documents
• suggested next steps
   

Timeframe for a response to a pre-application enquiry

Once a valid submission is received, officers will aim to provide you with bespoke written advice within the timeframes set out in the below fees and charges schedules, unless prior communication is made to mutually seek to extend that period.

Please note where additional information is required and/or a proposal is particularly complex, additional time is likely to be required.

The response provided to a pre-application enquiry

In all cases (accept when agreed otherwise by the applicant) a written report will be provided to the person who submits the pre-application enquiry.

Site visits and meetings

Site visits and meetings are not an automatic part of the pre-application process. They are undertaken in accordance with our fees and charges schedule below.

Specialist input

On receipt of your pre-application enquiry, the team will review whether it is necessary for specialist service officers such as ecologists, design and heritage officers, and/or trees and landscape officers to provide input. Such input will require a supplementary planning fee as per the below fees and charges schedule. If you specifically require input from any of these specialist services, please clearly request that within your submission.