Quick question – I know we have one or two legal eagles out there and Google is not currently serving me particularly well (or my search terms are poor ).

Councils seem to consult local people and businesses when an application has been present for planning permission. Now I assume that this is a legal obligation, but would like to know for certain that this is the case.

But my key query is whether councils have have an obligation to consult residents/businesses if someone puts in a request to change the usage of a property – say from office space to retail?

Thanks in advance.

Tesco Metro?

I believe that is the case, yes, based on the boards I see tied to lamposts declaring that very type of change, even changes of type of lighting outside a shop etc.
I am not a legal eagle (my invoice will reflect that fact ).

Thank you both – Coddy: you know me so well.

We've had lots of new housing developments locally and many have had commercial space on the ground floor. It seems that it's usually listed, in the original planning application, as office space. Yet we have surfeit of this locally, with plenty of new office space standing empty long after the buildings have been completed.

We're now in a situation where the council wants to throw out loads of small businesses from a sort of mini industrial estate and build flats on it – with office space on the ground floor. But only a month or so ago, the council changed the usage on a similar development around the corner so that it can move from office space to retail – and Sainsbury's will be moving in sometime soon. Unlike the original application (for office space) there was no consultation at all, and local businesses are now convinced that this new scheme is (along with throwing existing businesses out) a way of shoehorning yet another supermarket into the area via a backdoor that requires no consultation – and yes, they fear that that will be Tesco.

So I'm doing a little research, shall we say.

Assuming its in Hackney you can search applications on here: http://www.hackney.gov.uk/planning.htm Whilst that will not necessarily answer your question, it might give you an insight / starting point. Mind you one does wonder about Hackney's department - my experience of them left alot to be desired. Whilst they had apparently consulted with us and our neighbours we had no record of their notice! Indeed, it was only when scaffolding went up ABOVE OUR ROOF that we knew anoything about the adjacent redevelopment.

Assuming its in Hackney you can search applications on here: http://www.hackney.gov.uk/planning.htm Whilst that will not necessarily answer your question, it might give you an insight / starting point. Mind you one does wonder about Hackney's department - my experience of them left alot to be desired. Whilst they had apparently consulted with us and our neighbours we had no record of their notice! Indeed, it was only when scaffolding went up ABOVE OUR ROOF that we knew anoything about the adjacent redevelopment.

There's a lot out there on t'interweb about a consultation on relaxing the law Here's one example of the consultation about that relaxation ... http://www.communities.gov.uk/publicati ... nsultation Haven't found anything that makes it law yet though.

There's a lot out there on t'interweb about a consultation on relaxing the law Here's one example of the consultation about that relaxation ... http://www.communities.gov.uk/publicati ... nsultation Haven't found anything that makes it law yet though.

I found this, not sure if it’s something your already familiar with, in the Town and Country Planning Act Section 65: Publication of notices of applications for planning permission for designated development. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/199 ... 65/enacted

I found this, not sure if it’s something your already familiar with, in the Town and Country Planning Act Section 65: Publication of notices of applications for planning permission for designated development. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/199 ... 65/enacted

Thank you all – please keep them coming.

I work in this sector and when these developments are presented for building control they are usually describes as 'mixed use development', the building control requirements differ for each part of the building, I would assume the same description would apply for planning.

Playing the devils avacado, wouldn't a development of apartments, or indeed lots of developments of apartments in an area, benefit more from retail outlets on the ground floor rather than office/commercial use ?

In the current climate any business looking for accommodation has the market in the palm of its hand, I drive through Leeds city centre every day and the To Let signs are everywhere, I doubt whether any office block is 100% occupied - given that sort of situation wouldn't it be better to have retail outlets rather than boarded up ground floor offices in your neighbourhood ?