How to Apply for Planning Permission

Pre-application Enquiry

If you need advice about whether your proposal requires planning permission you should consider making a pre-application enquiry| (you may be charged for this).  You can also use this service to obtain advice about the information that you will be required to submit. Once it has been established that permission is required you will need to submit a formal planning application. You can prepare plans, drawings and supporting information yourself provided that any plans are clearly drawn to scale or you may choose to employ an architect, surveyor or similarly qualified person who will carry out the necessary technical work, submit the application and negotiate with the Council on your behalf.  In some cases it will also be necessary for you to employ other professionals to produce specialised reports.

Making an application (using 1APP)

The Standard Application Form introduced on 6 April 2008 (1APP) is the only official method of submitting a planning application for all Local Planning Authorities in England and any application submitted on a different form will not be valid.

Alternatively you can download the appropriate application form from the links at the bottom of this page and email us or return to us by post.

When emailing plans please ensure they are in pdf format.  If you choose to send paper documents please provide 3 copies (or 4 if you are applying for listed building consent) of the application form, plans and supporting documents.  If you are sending bound documents please send one copy unbound for ease of scanning. It would be appreciated if you could keep the use of non paper (or recyclable) items e.g. plastic covers to a minimum.  

Validation Checklists for Standard Application Form (1APP)

Before submitting any planning application we would advise you to read carefully the Planning Advice Note on the Validation of Planning Applications| to establish what information you will be required to submit. This contains information on Bournemouth’s local requirements.  These requirements were adopted following consultation in April 2006 and are currently being reviewed to improve guidance advice and to provide check lists that will correspond to each variation of the new Standard Application Form. 

Details of national requirements can be found in Section 2 and on Check List A.

Information about Bournemouth’s local requirements is in Section 3.  Check lists for the different types of planning application are listed below. These contain the supporting documents that you may need to provide for your application to be valid.  Where required information is not supplied your application will not be valid and will be returned.

Application Forms  

Householder Forms|

Full Application Forms|

Outline Application Forms|

Miscellaneous Application Forms|

Lawful Development Certificate Forms|

Additional Forms|

Planning Application Fees

Please download the latest application fees booklet|