Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce and Knights have teamed up to offer a planning drop-in clinic offering free guidance for home and business owners. Here, Knights Partner and Chartered Town Planner Carl Copestake talks about how the event could help members of the local business community and touches on some of the challenges they may face.
“The Government has recently made it clear that planning policies and decisions should help create the conditions in which businesses can invest, expand and adapt. This event offers an opportunity for any business thinking of investing and/or expanding, to take some planning advice on that process from the area’s leading planning consultancy.
This is an extension of what we do every day at Knights, working with clients to navigate the planning system and find the best solution for them.
The event is open to anyone, from a small investor seeking to change the use of a property, through to a factory owner wishing to expand, or to invest in a new site or premises.
The planning process, and in particular preparing and submitting planning applications, is perceived as being a key barrier due to what can be a complicated and protracted process. The new National Planning Policy Framework aims to simplify some of this but, as ever, changes are only as good as people’s understanding of how the system works.
We can offer advice about policy updates and their effects on land development and housing.
On a macro scale, the Government released its new national planning policy in December 2024, which seeks to make Britain a global leader in productivity and innovation, with particular emphasis given to creative and high technology industries (including data centres) and storage and distribution operations. There is also support for growing the rural economy.
At a micro scale, there has been the introduction of wide and varied permitted development rights, which allow some uses and operational development without planning permission, with a focus on town centres.
Some of the common planning pitfalls are mis-interpreting planning policy, failure to properly engage with the local authority at an early stage and poorly executed planning applications. It’s wise to ensure that there’s a good professional team around you that engages early and correctly with the local authority, and provides you with proper feedback and a strategy for success.
Councils are fully supportive of pre-application engagement, particularly in Staffordshire. People should ensure that any planning application is professionally and robustly prepared and submitted, and then monitored once validated.
There is sometimes scope for businesses who have reached capacity in their current buildings to expand by making better use of underused land, say redundant or under used parking areas. We also we have clients who create mezzanine floors within premises or extend upwards to create space.
However, it is sometimes preferential to consider an alternative, larger site when a current site has reached capacity. Before any significant investment is made, we engage with a local planning authority at an early stage to discuss whether there would be support in principle, and what level of supporting technical information they would like to see accompany a planning application.
For those looking to open a business from home, they need to be aware that it’s not straight forward. Planning permission isn’t required for example if a person simply works from home, but if a company is set up at home, with employees, and potentially visiting clients, then permission may be required. It’s always best to first check with a planning consultant or the planning authority.”
The Knights planning clinic takes place at Commerce House, Festival Park, Stoke-on-Trent, between 10am and 2pm on Thursday, 13 February.
Drop-in sessions will take place throughout the day.
Anyone wishing to attend should register their interest here. They will then be contacted with a time slot.
