Further PIP Success for McLoughlin Planning

McLoughlin Planning has successfully secured Permission in Principle (PiP) to construct 2 dwellings in the village of Cerney Wick, a non-principal settlement in the Cotswolds.

The site is located in an area of the Cotswolds where permission can only be granted for new housing if the development demonstrably supports or enhances the vitality of the local community.

McLoughlin Planning was able to persuade the Council to grant the PiP application because we successfully demonstrated that the new housing would make a positive contribution to the vitality of Cerney Wick as a small village with limited services.

It was the first PiP application to be permitted by Cotswold District Council since new legislation was introduced in June 2017.

The Town and Country Planning (Permission in Principle) (Amendment) Order 2017 came into force with the aim of speeding up housing delivery on small sites by giving developers more up-front certainty by obtaining a permission ‘in principle’. It negates the need of having to go to the expense of obtaining various technical reports that are required for outline planning applications.

The PiP procedure is still very much an under-utilised method of obtaining permission for housing developments, so much so that we were responsible for submitting the first approved with both Cotswold District Council and Swindon Borough Council. The Planning Portal does not even have an option to submit a PiP application – they must be submitted directly to the Local Planning Authority.

If you would like more information on PiP applications please do not hesitate to contact Joe Seymour on 01242 895121 or email joe.seymour@mplanning.co.uk