Briefings on Planning for Agents and Applicants
Many local authorities have established liaison arrangements with local agents and regular applicants. As part of these arrangements, some authorities have run, or would like to run, briefing and training sessions for them so that they can understand aspects of the planning system better and be more effective in their engagement with it.
TRA can put its experienced planning training team at the disposal of local authorities to carry out this kind of briefing session, thus eliminating the need for time-consuming preparation on the part of busy local authority staff, and also guaranteeing a professional presentation by people familiar with briefing others on the planning system at the local level.
Workshop format
We can offer a range of formats such as:
- full-day or half-day sessions
- morning, afternoon or evening sessions
- combinations of topics, for instance one topic in the morning and another in the afternoon
- repeated sessions, for example a session run in the morning for one group and repeated in the afternoon for another group.
Topics available
TRA will respond as much as possible to specific requirements. It is appreciated that any programme will need to be made suitably attractive to the potential audience.
Some examples are:
- a briefing on development management (half-day)
- a general briefing on the local development framework system (half-day)
- explaining the validation system and its requirements including design and access statements (half-day)
- negotiating amendments (half-day or full-day)
- conditions on planning applications (half-day or full-day)
- planning agreements (half-day or full-day)
- the role of the Committee/presentation at the Committee (half-day)
- material considerations (half-day)
- a briefing on dealing with enforcement issues (half-day or full-day)
- understanding permitted development - householder and non-householder (half-day or full-day)
To achieve cost effectiveness, it may be possible to combine half-day sessions in various ways to make up a full-day programme; or combine a half-day briefing for agents/applicants with a half-day planning-related training session for a different group of participants e.g. Councillors, Parish Councillors, support staff.
If you would like to discuss the possibility of arranging an in-house Briefing for agents and/or applicants, without obligation, please contact Angela Holmes.
Download our flier on the features and benefits of in-house training.