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National and local planning validation requirements

National, local and minerals and waste planning validation requirements also Biodiversity Net Gain planning application guidance.

Advice for applicants and agents on the supporting information you need to submit with planning applications to Westmorland and Furness Council.

These provide technical or other information we will need to validate your application. If we don't get the right information we may have to send the application back or ask you to provide more information.

You can also read guidance on making a planning application on GOV.UK.

Biodiversity Net Gain guidance

The Environment Act 2021 introduces a series of amendments to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 which legally require certain types of development to deliver Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG).

This interim guidance sets out Westmorland and Furness Council’s current approach to BNG once it becomes mandatory.

This guidance will be updated periodically as new information on BNG is released by the UK Government.

We are working on a standalone guidance note that will further clarify our approach to BNG. The guidance will be based on additional government guidance and secondary legislation, which is expected to be published in December 2023.

It is our intention to release the guidance note before BNG becomes mandatory.

Biodiversity Net Gain planning advice

Appeal against validation requirements

If you do not agree that information we have requested is necessary, you may appeal against non-validation.

The Government has amended the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) Order 2015 in relation to applications and validation disputes. Statutory Instrument 2013/1238 (Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) (Amendment) Order 2013) introduced a right of appeal (article 10a) against the non-determination of applications.

You can challenge our request for more information by submitting a notice, under article 10a, providing evidence to back up the reason why it is considered that the information is not necessary.

The validation appeal process

If an apparently valid application is later found to be invalid because of a factual or legal inaccuracy, the original valid date for processing the application will be disregarded. The valid date will be reset once the inaccuracies have been resolved.