P7: Finalisation for Planning

In pursuing a Large Development Project it is important that all stakeholders work collaboratively towards the production of a comprehensive suite of documents/outputs that fully comply with all of the necessary criteria as specified by legislation and circular advice. No two sites or developments are ever the same and therefore it is not possible to be overly prescriptive regarding the exact set of documents that may be required to be submitted. Any final documents must be professionally prepared to ensure that any proposals are not vulnerable to potential legal challenge from third parties on technical or procedural grounds, and should:

• Clearly establish what is being proposed and where;
• Have evolved through a collaborative pre-application process and thus not introduce major new issues at this finalisation stage;
• Be fully justified and backed up by a robust evidence base;
• Demonstrate how a quality outcome could and would be achieved;
• Contain consistent messages and information
• Enable efficient and effective decision making; and
• Be written up and presented clearly and concisely.

It is important to recognise that a wide range of stakeholders, including the general public will need to understand the proposals and justifications. Whilst technical analysis will undoubtedly be required, it will also be important to provide executive summaries written in plain English.

This stage primarily addresses the documentation required to support an Outline Planning Application and does not present the formal required outputs in relation to the production of a Development Plan Document. If this is the anticipated outcome then more information on necessary content can be found in Planning Policy Statement 12.