Climate Change Consultation from 20 April to 8 June 2023
We are proposing to amend 'paragraph 39 - sustainability statement of the adopted Local List' to include a requirement to submit a sustainability checklist with a sustainability statement. This will align with 'Dorset Council’s Planning for Climate Change – Interim Guidance and Position Statement' which seeks to help to tackle climate change through the planning application process in response to the current climate emergency. We are asking for your views on the draft interim and guidance statement and the amendments to paragraph 39 before we adopt them for use. The draft statement, amended paragraph 39 and checklist are out to consultation. Please give us your comments at the Dorset Council planning for climate change consultation.
Before you start
Our validation checklist tells you what we need to register your application. It will help you to make sure you give us all the information we need. If you don't give us what we need, we will have to contact you for more which can lead to delays.
We adopted a new list for applications submitted from 1 October 2022.
Before you submit you should check the validation checklist.
The following updates were made to the checklist on 30 May 2023:
- 20. Ecological Assessments, biodiversity check lists and bat surveys – biodiversity rural and urban check lists have been combined into a single check list with refined questions. Associated guidance and links updated.
- 21. Flood risk assessments –links updated to view the 'Groundwater flood risk consultation' layer in Dorset Explorer which shows the combined 0 to 0.025m and 0.025 to 0.500m JBA risk of emergence layers for when a flood risk assessment is required when there may be a risk of ground water flooding.
You should also:
- view the current application list requirement matrix
- use the fee calculator on the planning portal to work out what it will cost (in most, but not all cases there is a fee)
- for applications in northern Dorset view the:
- information on Phosphates on the Somerset Levels and Moors Ramsar site
- Somerset West and Taunton Council, Natural England and the Environment Agency advice note. Considering Package Treatment Plants and Septic Tanks as part of nutrients mitigation in Somerset
- on 16 March 2022, Natural England updated advice on nutrient neutrality. This is for development proposals within the catchments of internationally protected habitats sites. See our Nutrient Neutrality page to find out more
- if your application relates to a use of land or building being carried out as "permitted development" view our advice note. It explains the requirements of Regulations 75 to 77 of the Conservation of Habitats Regulations 2017
- if the site area is less than 0.1ha, you should:
- use the Ecology flow chart
- complete a biodiversity checklist to include with your application
- for all sites impacting over 0.1ha and those indicated by the checklist, you must:
- submit an ecological survey for our Natural Environment Team to approve. See Ecology Guidance for Planning Applications to find out more
There are a range of constraints that may need to be considered when developing in Dorset. DorsetExplorer provides an overview of the information that can be a helpful start.
We will publish documentation submitted in support of an application on our website to facilitate the planning process. This will include applicant name and address and, where an agent is acting, the name and address of that agent. For more information about how we process personal data, please see our privacy notice.
We will redact personal data in accordance with our data protection policies. If you are providing information that is confidential, reference this in the file name or mark it clearly for our attention.
We will contact you if confidentiality would affect the transparency of the planning process. For example certain viability information.