Submit a planning application

Before you make your application

Find out if you need planning permission.

Pre application advice, planning performance agreements and Dorset Design Review Panel

Before making your planning application we council encourage applicants to consider using our pre-application advice service. This service gives you the opportunity to discuss your proposals with us, identify any issues that might need to be considered and find out what information you need to support your application.

For significant, more complex, or phased developments we recommend using a planning performance agreement.

We also offer a Dorset Design Review Panel service that can provide independent design advice to applicants and help in the preparation and determination of planning applications.

Professional help

You might want to hire a professional planning agent or architect/plan drawer to help with your planning application. This is important if you can't create the scaled, detailed drawings, surveys or other information needed for your application.

Validation advice surgery

Our validation advice surgery is a pre bookable service which provides a 30 minute virtual or telephone appointment with an experienced planning technician. Prior to the meeting we would check the planning constraints and history of the site and guide you through what will be required to make a valid application.

Currently available for householder, listed building and minor applications only. For a set fee of £102 (inc. VAT).

Use the pre application request service and choose ‘validation advice’ when completing your pre application request type. We would require a location plan with the site clearly outlined in red.

We will register your request, and an officer will contact you to arrange the appointment.

What we need from you to make a valid application

Your application should be made up of:

the correct fully completed national application form
the correct application fee
necessary existing and proposed plans
the required supporting documentation, surveys and reports

Central Government sets out national requirement for applications. In addition, we have local requirements.

Our validation checklist sets out the full details of both the national and local requirements for applications depending on your development proposals, the location of your site and the constraints that apply. Our requirements matrix provides a quick summary of the requirements.

Use Dorset explorer Planning Public to check the constraints that apply to a site. To check for Tree Preservation Orders please contact the Tree Team.

Application fees are set by Central Government and reviewed on an annual basis. You can check the fee for your application using the Planning Portal Fee Calculator tool.

Bespoke application checklists

We are currently developing a downloadable checklist for each application type. The first available checklist to download is for householder applications. There is also a downloadable Heritage Statement Template.

When we receive your application

We usually start reviewing applications within 5 working days. If you haven’t heard from us within 10 working days, please contact us.

Our planning technicians will check your application to make sure it meets national and local validation requirements. We can't register your application if:

the form isn't filled in correctly
the application fee hasn’t been paid
required plans or supporting information are missing

We will write to you (or your agent) to let you know if anything else is required advising of any administrative charges (see below) that need to be paid when the outstanding information is submitted.

If we don't hear from you within 21 days after contacting you, your application will be closed, and we’ll refund the application fee (excluding the Planning Portal service charge and our administration fee). You'll need to submit a new application if you want to proceed with the proposals.

Additional fee for invalid applications

When a planning application is submitted, it should include all the required information to be considered valid. However, many applications we receive are incomplete and therefore invalid, which leads to additional work.

From 1 April 2025, we have introduced an administration charge which will be applied every time you submit, and we check your application, and we find it is incomplete.

The charge is based on the planning application fee and will tell you the charge that applies in the invalid letter when we write to you to let you know what is required. The invalid fee will apply if you do not submit the information and we need to close the application and if you decide to withdraw your application instead of submitting the required information.

Administration charge fees
Planning application fee	Invalid application charge
£0 to £99	£0
£100 to £500	£35
£501 to £749	£75
£750 to £2,499	£155
£2,500	£250

How to submit your application

Electronic submissions

The most convenient way to submit your application is online via the Planning Portal. You can complete your application form, obtain an electronic location plan, submit all your plans and documents electronically and calculate and pay your application. When your application is ready the Planning Portal notifies us and we download your application directly into our system ready to start validating your application. A Planning Portal service charge applies.

Application types not currently available online

The types of application that aren't currently available online are:

modification or discharge of a Section 106 planning obligation
Local Development Order

If you are submitting a Pre-Development Notice in any area covered by a Local Development Order, please contact Alex Clothier, Innovation Park Business Manager, for advice about validation requirements by:

email: alex.clothier@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk
telephone: 01929 557349

Paper submission

Application forms can be downloaded from the Planning Portal. You will need to complete these and submit the from along with all plans and documents as a PDF’s by email to the relevant planning team. You will need to complete and include a biodiversity checklist and provide any surveys and reports as required. This checklist forms part of the online form if you apply online directly though the Planning Portal.

Postal application should be sent to Dorset Council, County Hall, Colliton Park, Dorchester, DT1 1XJ, but there will be a delay while the application is scanned and sent to the correct planning team.

Minerals and waste planning applications

Planning application forms for minerals development are not available from the Planning Portal. Any application relating to minerals development should use the minerals application form.

The following documents are also available to download:

Waste management facilities

In the case of waste management facilities, you may also need to:

apply for a waste management licence or an integrated pollution prevention control consent
obtain confirmation that the development is exempt from these requirements

Contact the Environment Agency for more information.

Copyright and publication of applications

Copying or using electronic versions or paper copies of the plans or drawings and information without permission of the plan drawer/architect is likely to be a copyright infringement, protected under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (Section 47, 1988 Act). Please make sure that you have the permission to use any plans or drawings before submitting them as part of your application. We are unable to accept drawings when there appears to be a copyright infringement, and this may result in a delay in registering your application.

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.

Dorset Council Building Control

If you're planning building work in Dorset, you may need both planning permission and Building Control approval under building regulations. Dorset Council Building Control ensures your project meets building regulations while providing excellent customer service throughout your build. They offer:

competitive quotes bespoke to your project that are excellent value
a local qualified Officer who knows the area, the builders, and the architects
a service that is totally independent, impartial, and accountable

For further information and an initial discussion on all the services that we provide please contact Building Control.

Amending your existing planning permission

Amending your existing planning permission gives guidance about making changes to your approved plans or changing plans while an application is being considered.

Current updates and links to useful information

Planning validation checklist consultation

Consultation has now closed.
All responses received will be considered before producing the final updated document. We aim to complete the review and adopt the updated local list by the end August 2025.

Planning Permission in Principle exclusions

Article 5B of the Permission in Principle (Amendment) Order 2017 specifies types of development that cannot be granted permission in principle (PIP). This includes, major developments, habitats development and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) development.

This is particularly relevant for Dorset Council which has several Habitat sites across our area. Although mitigation can be taken into account when assessing the impact of development on Habitat sites, there is no opportunity to secure mitigation through a legal agreement at the PIP stage and an appeal in Dorset has confirmed that Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) cannot be relied upon.

Therefore, we cannot approve any PIP applications where mitigation needs to be secured to prevent significant effects on Habitats sites from new residential development. In these circumstances you will need to consider submitting your proposals using another application type.

Permitted development prior approval applications

Read about the requirements of Regulations 75 to 77 of the Conservation of Habitats Regulations 2017 advice note.

Nutrient neutrality if the development proposals fall within the catchments of internationally protected habitats sites.

For applications in northern Dorset

Application in North Dorset should view:

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

Contact planning

See our contact details.