Dartmoor National Park Authority

Dealing with Minor Amendments

What is a minor amendment?

Planning law makes no provision for the agreement of alterations to the approved details of a development and, consequently, there is no set procedure for doing so. However, during the course of construction, and often in response to a building regulation requirement, small changes are sometimes required. These might merely amount to the size of a window or the location of a door,details which, while important, would not reasonably justify the submission of a new application. Therefore the concept of a ‘minor amendment’ has been adopted by most authorities as a way of dealing with such matters.

A minor amendment can be defined as:

a minor variation to an approved scheme which does not raise significant new issues (requiring the submission of a new planning application), provided that, cumulatively, the changes would not result in a substantial departure from what was originally approved.

Examples of Works that would NOT Constitute a Minor Amendment

• a significant increase in the site area, as defined by the red line on the application
• a significant enlargement or alteration to the appearance of a building
• an increase in the height of a building by more than 0.3 metres
• significant changes to site levels
• any other works which in themselves constitute ‘development’ requiring planning permission and were not part of the original proposal.

This list is not exhaustive and each request for approval of a ‘minor amendment’ will be considered on its merits having regard to all the relevant circumstances.

For Larger Developments: e.g. Housing Groups/Estates

When dealing with groups or small estates of new houses, frequent requests are received for revisions to house types or site layouts. Often the requested amendment can be relatively minor in the context of the overall scale of the development.

However some alterations, such as the ‘handing’ of house types, can have a significant impact on neighbouring properties and on the street scene and local character. Therefore great care must be taken to ensure that the changes proposed retain the collective character of the development and the amenity of nearby residents.

Documents to be Submitted and Fee

• a request for the approval of a minor amendment must be made in writing and accompanied by four sets of drawings clearly showing the proposed change(s)
• the letter must specify the site address and reference number of the original permission
• the proposed change(s), together with the reason(s) for the change(s), must be specified in the letter or on the drawing(s)
• all drawing(s)/plan(s) must be to a recognised metric scale
• the documents must be accompanied by a fee of £55.00.

Please make your cheque payable to the Dartmoor National Park Authority.

The Procedure

If the proposed amendment is very minor and considered acceptable then it will be approved by letter, normally within 10 working days of its receipt, and a copy of the submitted documents will be sent to the relevant District/Borough and Parish/ Town Council for information only.

In other cases:

• a copy of the submitted documents will be sent to the relevant District/Borough and Parish/ Town Council and any relevant ‘specialist’ consultee with a request for any comments to be received within 14 days
• other interested parties, e.g. neighbours, will also be informed of the proposed amendment and also given 14 days to comment. A decision on the proposed amendment will then be made in accordance with the Authority’s Scheme of Delegation.

In all cases:

• if the proposed amendment is considered acceptable, then a set of the amended drawings will be returned and stamped ‘Minor Amendment Approved’ along with a letter confirming the approval of the amendment
• the original plans will be stamped ‘superseded’ and the development must, thereafter, be carried out in accordance with the amended plan(s)
• any relevant conditions attached to the original permission must still be adhered to.

Note:
The minor amendment procedure is not a planning application and a refusal to approve an amendment does not result in a right of appeal to the First Secretary of State. If you wish to pursue the matter through to appeal then a formal planning application must be submitted.

This information is available in PDF format: Dealing With Minor Amendments PDF (205Kb - PDF Help)