Go to navigation

Planning applications

All applications for planning permission must be submitted to the local planning authority - Medway Council.

Customers can apply for planning permission online using the Planning Portal, a dedicated national website run by central government that also provides further information on the planning and appeals process in England and Wales.

If you do not want to use the portal to submit an application, you can download planning application forms from this website. 

An application can take one of three forms

Outline planning application

With an application for outline planning permission, detailed consideration will always be required on the use and amount of development.  In addition, even if layout, scale and access are reserved, an application will still require a basic level of information on these issues in the application. As a minimum, therefore, applications should always include information on:

  • Use - the use or uses proposed for the development and any distinct development and any distinct development zones within the site identified
  • Amount of development - the amount of development proposed for each use
  • Indicative layout - an indicative layout with separate development zones proposed within the site boundary where appropriate
  • Scale parameters - an indication of the upper and lower limits for heights, width and length of each building
  • Indicative Access Point - an area or areas in which the access point or points to the site will be situated

Reserved matters

  • Layout - the way in which buildings, routes and open spaces within the development are provided, situated and orientated in relation to each other and to buildings and spaces outside the development
  • Scale - the height, width and length of each building proposed in relation to its surroundings
  • Appearance - the aspects of a building or place within the development which determine the visual impression the building or place makes, including the external built form of the development, its architecture, materials, decoration, lighting, colour and texture
  • Access - the accessibility to and within the site, for vehicles, cycles and pedestrians in terms of the positioning and treatment of access and circulation routes and how these fit into the surrounding access network
  • Landscaping - this is the treatment of private and public space to enhance or protect the site's amenity through hard and soft measures, for example, through planting of trees or hedges or screening by fences or walls

The council will always require further details (reserved matters) to be submitted for approval following the grant of outline planning permission. The reserved matters application must be submitted within three years from the date of the outline permission, otherwise the permission will lapse. In some cases further details will be reserved by conditions imposed on the grant of full planning permission.

Full planning application

This includes all the details of the proposed development, including site and building plans and types of building materials to be used. Development must normally start within three years of the date of the permission, otherwise the permission will lapse.

Alterations to a planning application

In the course of dealing with a planning application, the council may discuss and agree with the applicant alterations to the original proposal which will make it more acceptable. If the amendments are substantial, a fresh application may be required.

Fees

Applicants must, by law, pay a fee to the council when an application for planning permission is made. The fees are charged according to a scale that applies nationally.

Further information

If you are proposing alterations to a listed building or any kind of advertisement for your premises (including the fixing of a shop sign) please use the links at the foot of this page to find out what consents you need. There is also advice about:

 

For more information contact Development Control by telephone: 01634 331700 / fax: 01634 331195 or by email: planning.representations@medway.gov.uk

Write to: Development Control, Medway Council, Gun Wharf, Dock Road, Chatham, Kent ME4 4TR

Send this page to a friend: Send

Send a link to the Planning applications page to a friend

  1. Please answer the question below to ensure your form gets through safely to Medway Council. It is to verify that you are a real person and not an automated internet spam programme.