Applying for planning permission is not so difficult, but achieving your aims can be really tough in the UK, partly due to the differences between councils. What works in one area is not guaranteed to work in another.
For that reason, we've put together this series of guides for negotiating the issues around planning permission, and offer important services around planning applications in case these guides don't cover your biggest questions.
Your Local Planning Permission
Your local authority is Medway Council, but Gillingham has a distinct set of challenges and opportunities.
Gillingham residents are young (and getting younger), but are also experiencing high unemployment. This makes Gillingham an area which suffers from deprivation, so applications with the potential to create jobs might be more successful.
To make a planning application, you just need to write out a form. This form is standardised, and you can get hold of it here.
Gillingham comes in for special mention in the development framework, which is why it deserves its own section in our guide.
Your Local Development Framework
The Medway Council local development framework makes several observations that are interesting to anyone seeking planning permission in Gillingham.
- Support for single parents might be especially appreciated in the area, but any development with the potential to create employment and opportunities would be useful.
- Gillingham is a focus for cultural and creative industries, with regeneration focused along the waterfront.
- Sensitive development is being mooted in Gillingham town centre, as an important district centre.
- Restoring the natural landscape of parts of Gillingham (Estuary and Orchards) is a priority, and might impact development in that area.
The full Local Development Framework goes into even more detail, but these are the main significant parts for Gillingham.
The Hidden Factors
There are factors in your planning application which are totally hidden from you – not because of any malice or lack of thought, but because planning application is a complex area, and because it's possible that your council has left confusing, misleading or contradictory passages in some of their documents.
If that's the case, you might be able to challenge decisions made by the council or support your planning application better.
This is what we're really good at.
We take the areas of ambiguity in the council's approach to planning permission, and we help to resolve them so that your planning application can go through.
If that's what you're interested in, don't hesitate to get in touch!
What Next?
If you found it difficult to apply through the specific local council planning portals, you can try applying through the generic online planning portal.
If you've made a planning application in Gillingham already but it didn't go as planned, you can come to us for guidance and advice.
If you're from Chatham or Rochester rather than Gillingham, check out our guide to obtaining planning application in the Medway conurbation.
Or if you've got any more questions, ask away in the comments section and we'll do our best to answer them!