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Outline planning applications, parameter plans marked as illustrative, and the Rochdale envelope
First published by LEXISNEXIS
United Kingdom | Publication | September 2022
Content
1. What is an outline planning permission?
| 1.1. | The purpose of an outline planning permission is to enable a developer to obtain confirmation from the local planning authority that a particular form of development on a site is acceptable in principle, and to reserve the details of that development for subsequent approval. |
| 1.2. |
Section 92 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA90) provides: ““outline planning permission” means planning permission granted, in accordance with the provisions of a development order, with the reservation for subsequent approval by the local planning authority, the Welsh Ministers or the Secretary of State of matters not particularised in the application (“reserved matters”).” |
| 1.3. |
1.3. National Planning Practice Guidance (PPG) also includes a description of outline planning permissions: “An application for outline planning permission allows for a decision on the general principles of how a site can be developed. Outline planning permission is granted subject to conditions requiring the subsequent approval of one or more ‘reserved matters’.” Paragraph: 005 Reference ID: 14-005-20140306 |
| 1.4. | 1.4. “Reserved matters” are defined in Article 2(1) of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015 (DMPO) as: ““reserved matters” in relation to an outline planning permission, or an application for such permission, means any of the following matters in respect of which details have not been given in the application— (a) access; (b) appearance; (c) landscaping; (d) layout; and (e) scale;”. |
2. What must an outline application include?
| 2.1. |
The relevant “development order” referred to in section 92 TCPA90 is the DMPO. Article 5 of the DMPO provides: (2) Where the authority who are to determine an application for outline planning permission are of the opinion that, in the circumstances of the case, the application ought not to be considered separately from all or any of the reserved matters, the authority must within the period of 1 month beginning with the date of receipt of the application notify the applicant that they are unable to determine it unless further details are submitted, specifying the further details they require. (3) Where access is a reserved matter, the application for outline planning permission must state the area or areas where access points to the development proposed will be situated.” [Emphasis Underlined.] |
| 2.2. | Article 7 of the DMPO is entitled “General requirements: applications for planning permission including outline planning permission”; it states that: “an application for planning permission must- a) be made in writing to the local planning authority on a form published by the Secretary of State (or a form to substantially the same effect); b) include the particulars specified or referred to in the form; c) be accompanied, […] by— (i) a plan which identifies the land to which the application relates; (ii) any other plans, drawings and information necessary to describe the development which is the subject of the application” [Emphasis Underlined.] And that: “Any plans or drawings required to be provided […] must be drawn to an identified scale and, in the case of plans, must show the direction of North”. |
| 2.3. |
The PPG also provides guidance on what an outline application must include; “What details need to be submitted with an outline planning application? Information about the proposed use or uses, and the amount of development proposed for each use, is necessary to allow consideration of an application for outline planning permission. Under article 5(3) of the Development Management Procedure Order 2015, an application for outline planning permission must also indicate the area or areas where access points to the development will be situated, even if access has been reserved.” [Emphasis Underlined.] Paragraph: 034 Reference ID: 14-034-20140306 |
| 2.4. | Earlier guidance (now revoked) is also instructive; Circular 87 of the Ministry of Town and Country Planning, which accompanied the 1950 General Development Order (which Order introduced outline planning applications) stated: "Since consideration at the approval stages is limited by the terms of the initial permission, it is essential that that permission should not take the form of a blank cheque, and, correspondingly, the authority must be furnished with sufficient information to enable them to form a proper judgment of what is proposed; there can be no question of entertaining propositions which are still in embryo. The application should indicate the character and approximate size of the building to be erected, and the use to which it is to be put (e.g., ‘a three-bedroomed house,’ a ‘two- storied factory for light industrial purposes with an aggregate floor-space of 30/35,000 square feet’)." |
3. Environmental Impact Assessment
| 3.1. |
Many outline planning applications will require environmental impact assessment due to their nature and scale; this assessment will need to be carried out at outline application stage. The PPG states: “How should multi-stage consents be considered? In cases where a consent procedure involves more than one stage (a multi-stage consent), for example, a first stage involving an outline planning permission and a second stage dealing with reserved matters, the effects of a project on the environment should normally be identified and assessed when determining the outline planning permission.” Paragraph: 053 Reference ID: 4-053-20140306 |
| 3.2. | The Rochdale litigation (R. v Rochdale MBC Ex p. Tew [1999] 3 P.L.R. 74, and (R. v Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council, Ex p. Milne [2001] Env. L.R. 22) made clear that whilst the environmental impact assessment regulations then in force (now the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 (SI 2017/1571)) did not make outline permissions unlawful, a bare outline would be unlikely to comply with the requirements of the regulations, and environmental assessment of the effects of the project would still be required. This would be likely to require a reasonable level of detail in the description of development, and per Sullivan J in Ex p. Milne: “Provided the outline application had acknowledged the need for details of a project to evolve over a number of years, within clearly defined parameters, provided the environmental assessment had taken account of the need for evolution, within those parameters, and reflected the likely significant effects of such a flexible project in the environmental statement, and provided the local planning authority in granting outline planning permission imposed conditions to ensure that the process of evolution kept within the parameters applied for and assessed, the project, as it evolved with the benefit of approvals of reserved matters, remained the same as the project which was assessed.” |
| 3.3. | These cases have led to what is known as the “Rochdale envelope” approach; this involves the fixing of parameters at outline application stage, via conditions, which parameters are then to be adhered to when reserved matters and details come forward later for approval. These parameters will be the maximum extent of development and present a worst case for the purposes of environmental assessment. The parameters define the project description. Often developers take the approach of fixing the parameters, and providing an indicative schedule of land uses, and then preparing an illustrative masterplan that applies those parameters; although the masterplan will not be subject to a condition, as it presents only one way in which the development could come forward. |
4. Can local planning authorities (LPAs) accept outline planning applications with parameter plans marked as illustrative?
| 4.1. | 4.1. The answer to the above question is likely to be no, unless other plans for approval have been submitted that provide the certain and detail required at outline application stage, for the following reasons: |
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Head of Planning; Partner
Email
sarah.fitzpatrick@nortonrosefulbright.com
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