Our Services

Planning advice built around the problem

Tetrick Planning provides senior-led planning advice across London and the South East.

We work with developers, landowners, architects, businesses and property owners on projects where the planning position needs some thought.

That may be at the very start of a project, after a refusal, where enforcement action has begun, or where there are several possible routes and the client needs to know which one is actually worth pursuing.

We do not offer off-the-shelf planning advice.

The aim is to understand the planning risk early, choose the strongest route and avoid wasting time and money on an approach that is unlikely to work.

Planning Applications

We prepare and manage planning applications for residential, commercial and mixed-use development.

That can mean taking a project from an initial planning review through to submission and determination, or joining an existing design team where the planning strategy needs strengthening.

Our role typically includes:

• reviewing planning history and policy;

• advising on planning strategy as the design develops;

• preparing Planning Statements and supporting submissions;

• coordinating architects and specialist consultants where required;

• dealing with planning officers during determination; and

• advising on amendments, conditions and fallback options.

The objective is not simply to get an application submitted.

It is to put forward the strongest scheme and planning case possible.

Planning Applications →

Pre-Application Advice

Not every project should go straight to a planning application.

Pre-application advice can be useful where the planning position is uncertain, the proposal is potentially contentious, or the design team needs early feedback before committing more time and cost.

We advise on:

• whether pre-application engagement is worthwhile;

• how much information should be prepared before approaching the Council;

• the planning issues most likely to determine the outcome;

• how to frame the proposal and supporting case;

• how to interpret the Council’s response; and

• whether the feedback justifies redesign, further work or moving directly to an application.

A pre-application response is not a decision and should not be treated as one.

Its value is in testing the right issues, identifying risk early and deciding what to do next.

Pre-Application Advice →

Planning Appeals

A refusal is sometimes the end of a proposal.

Sometimes it is not.

We review the reasons for refusal, assess whether the Council’s conclusions can realistically be challenged and advise clearly on the prospects of appeal.

Where there is a case to pursue, we prepare the appeal strategy and written representations and coordinate any additional evidence required.

Our appeal work includes residential, commercial and mixed-use development, retrospective applications and more complicated planning disputes.

If we do not think an appeal is the right route, we will say so.

Planning Appeals →

Planning Enforcement & Retrospective Applications

Enforcement correspondence needs a strategy.

The wrong response can turn a manageable planning problem into a much harder one.

We advise where unauthorised works or uses have taken place, where the Council has started asking questions, or where formal enforcement action is already underway.

Depending on the circumstances, the right route may involve:

• engaging directly with the enforcement officer;

• submitting a retrospective planning application;

• applying for a lawful development certificate;

• amending or removing part of the development;

• negotiating a practical resolution; or

• appealing.

The first job is to understand what the Council is actually concerned about and what options remain available before deciding how to respond.

Planning Enforcement →

Commercial & Hospitality Planning

Commercial planning rarely happens in a vacuum.

A technically neat planning solution is little use if it prevents the business from operating properly.

We advise shops, restaurants, pubs, offices and other commercial occupiers on matters including:

• changes of use;

• shopfronts and signage;

• external seating;

• extraction and plant;

• opening hours;

• operational conditions;

• extensions and alterations; and

• retrospective or enforcement matters.

Our advice balances planning policy with the practical and commercial requirements of the business.

Commercial & Hospitality Planning →

Change of Use & Prior Approval

There is often more than one planning route available for a change of use.

We advise on permitted development, prior approval, full planning applications and lawful-use questions, including commercial-to-residential schemes.

The first job is usually to establish what can be done, what cannot, and whether one route provides a useful fallback if another fails.

We regularly advise on:

• Class MA;

• commercial-to-residential conversion;

• changes of use requiring planning permission;

• certificates of lawfulness;

• prior approval applications; and

• planning strategy where the existing or proposed use is unclear.

Change of Use & Prior Approval →

Complex or Previously Refused Projects

A significant proportion of our work does not fit neatly into one service category.

We are often instructed because:

• an application has already been refused;

• the Council has raised a difficult policy objection;

• several planning routes are available;

• there is an enforcement risk;

• the client needs a second opinion; or

• too much design work is being undertaken without a clear planning strategy.

These are often the projects where good planning advice adds the most value.

Sometimes the right answer is to redesign.

Sometimes it is to submit more evidence.

Sometimes it is to appeal.

Sometimes it is to stop spending money on the wrong route.

Our role is to work out which.

How We Work

Every project is director-led.

We aim to give clients:

• a clear view of planning risk;

• an honest assessment of what is realistically achievable;

• proportionate advice;

• a strategy before unnecessary costs are incurred; and

• direct involvement throughout the project.

We are not interested in producing generic planning statements or telling clients what they want to hear simply to secure an instruction.

The aim is to give useful advice and get to the best planning outcome available.

Need Advice on a Planning Issue?

If you have a site, application, refusal or enforcement matter and need to understand the best route forward, get in touch.

Contact Tetrick Planning