A collaborative approach
The council welcomes early involvement in the development process. This will reduce the time taken during the planning application, works’ technical approval and construction stages.
For most planning applications (particularly where a development involves creating a new junction or is likely to result in a change in traffic patterns at an existing junction), the council and the planning authority should be approached for initial discussions about whether proposals can be accepted in principle. This should help to avoid work on a proposal that cannot be accepted in principle either on highway or planning grounds where planning permission is likely to be refused.
Applicants for development proposals that are likely to require a Travel Plan and a Transport Statement or Transport Assessment, or where otherwise recommended by the Local Planning Authority, are strongly advised to approach the LHA for informal pre-application highways and transport advice. However, the LHA is pleased to offer pre-application advice for any proposal if sought.
Pre-application highways and transport advice can be sought by emailing hdc@leics.gov.uk with sufficient information on the proposals. The LHA will seek to respond to pre-application highways and transport enquiries from prospective applicants or their consultants within 42 days. There is currently no charge for this service, although this is reviewed from time to time.
Information required at pre-application
Please note that pre-application responses and advice are relevant to the planning arena only. Planning permission does not give you approval to work on the public highway. The contents of pre-application responses and advice including any attachments are offered as officer opinion and will not prejudice any future decision the Highway Authority may make in relation to a proposal. Pre-application advice is based on a desktop exercise and no site visit is undertaken for pre-application advice.
Whilst pre-application responses and advice provide our advice with the information available at the time and consideration of the proposals in planning terms, this shall not prejudice any formal position taken through the formal planning application process or technical approval process which follows thereafter. This advice is also provided in the context of a statutory consultee to the planning process which is subject to the decision-making process of the Local Planning Authority (LPA).
We do however support the Applicants proactive approach to reach early agreement on matters which we would expect to expedite the formal planning process in relation to highways matters.
The following information should be provided as a minimum to enable the LHA to provide informal pre-application advice:
- Red line boundary plan;
- Details of proposed access arrangement;
- Details of use classes and scale;
- Details of sufficient off-street parking, parking space dimensions and garages (if applicable);
- Details of correspondence with the Local Planning Authority (if applicable).
The council may accept pre-application enquiries with less information than listed above, but this would limit the scope of the advice the council is able to provide.
The council is also keen to agree detailed scopes of Transport Assessments and modelling at the pre-application stage.