Planning application requirements

When is a design and access statement required?

Design and access statements are a statutory requirement for many types of development where an application for planning permission, including outline applications, or listed building consent is required. Where a design and access statement is required and it is not submitted with the application the council cannot accept the application as valid and cannot make a decision on it.

Applications for the following types of development do not need to be accompanied by a design and access statement

• engineering or mining operations
• extension or alteration to an existing dwellinghouse, including buildings within the curtilage of the dwellinghouse for any purpose incidental to the enjoyment of the dwellinghouse, providing no part of the dwellinghouse or its curtilage is within a conservation area. If the dwellinghouse is listed a design and access statement will be required
• making a material change in the use of land or buildings
• advertisement consent
• works to trees

What needs to be included in a design and access statement

• State the design principles and concepts that have been applied to the development in terms of the amount of development proposed, its appearance, the layout, its scale and the landscaping. It should also demonstrate the steps taken to appraise the context of the development and how the design of the development takes that context into account in relation to its proposed use.
• Explain the policy adopted as to access, and how policies relating to access in relevant local development documents have been taken into account and state what, if any, consultation has been undertaken on issues relating to access to the development and what account has been taken of the outcome of any such consultation.
• Explain how any specific issues which might affect access to the development have been addressed, how prospective users will be able to gain access to the development from the existing transport network, why the main points of access to the site and the layout of access routes within the site have been chosen and how features which ensure access to the development will be maintained.
• Where it relates to an application for listed building consent, address the special architectural or historic interest of the building, the particular physical features of the building and the setting of the building

Further information about design and access statements 

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) provides further advice and guidance on the need for and content of design and access statements in section 3 of Circular 01/2006 'Guidance on changes to the development control system'.

The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) publication 'Design and access statements - How to write, read and use them' also provides useful help and guidance.