If planning constraints apply to your area then further additional consents may be required for your scheme.
Local Plan 2012-2030
Check the adopted local plan for polices relevant to your site which might affect your development. To the extent that development plan policies are material to an application for planning permission the decision must be taken in accordance with the development plan unless there are material considerations that indicate otherwise.
The Find My Nearest Opens in a new window facility on the Council’s website displays a number of useful layers including: adopted highway network, planning applications, public rights of way and ward boundaries. You can select a particular property by entering the Post Code or Street or Search for any of the following designations/considerations by selecting relevant ‘Service’ from the drop down box.
Neighbourhood Plans
Torbay has 100% coverage of Neighbourhood Plans, covering Torquay, Paignton, and Brixham Peninsula. These each contain planning policies and supporting information for the respective areas and are part of the Development Plan for Torbay following support at local Referendums in May 2019.
Conservation areas
Conservation Areas are areas of special or historic interest whose character or appearance is worthy of preservation or enhancement. Their 'specialness' is judged against local and regional criteria. Conservation Areas are shaded red on the map.
Protected trees
If this system shows a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) or Conservation Area in/near the property please contact us for clarification. Do not solely rely on this system. Once you inform us of the address of where the tree is situated, we will then be able to tell you whether a tree is protected by a Tree Preservation Order, lies within a Conservation Area, or is subject to a Planning or Landscaping Condition.
Highway Standing Advice
The Council has now published Highway Standing Advice document (July 2018) to assist applicants prepare minor planning applications that may affect the public highway. This document should be read in conjunction with the Highways Design Guide for New Developments. Those minor applications where standing advice is likely to apply will include but may not be limited to: Householder extensions (conservatories, small rear extensions, etc.); Householder applications including new or altered accesses; New single (or a pair of) dwellings; Changes to parking arrangements (e.g. COU of garage, extension over a car port or parking space, etc.); Conversion or subdivision of existing buildings to multiple dwellings or flats (up to 3) where there is no significant change to existing highway access; Agricultural buildings or accesses; Barn conversions; Advertisements and signs.
Listed buildings
A 'listed building' is a building, object or structure that has been judged to be of national historical or architectural interest. The map will display Grade 1 (marked red), Grade 2 (marked blue) and Grade 2 Star (marked green) Listed Buildings.
If you are unsure about what type of planning application you need to make then a pre-planning application will give you guidance on how to find out what permission(s) your scheme may require.
Flood risks
Flooding is an important issue, which must not be ignored. In the future, it is likely that flooding will occur more frequently and more severely due to climate change. Within Torbay some areas are at a higher risk of flooding than others; many areas are at little or no risk. It is the combination of a number of factors that contribute to making an area at risk from flooding. These are settlement location, including proximity to a watercourse or the coast, climate, geology and topography. The risk of flooding can become greater when there are extreme storm events or when taking into account the predicted effects of climate change.
Due to the severe flood risk within Torbay, the majority of the area has been identified as lying within the Torbay Critical Drainage Area. This means that we require most planning applications to be accompanied by a flood risk assessment which should identify pre development and post development flood risk. Development proposals should not increase flood risk both on and off the site as a consequence of the development. Key considerations are the Environment Agency Flood Risk data and the Strategic Flood Risk Assessments (SFRA) - see the flooding reports, information and legislation page. The Torbay Local Plan Policy ER1 Flood Risk boundaries (2015) seek to combine these data sets (which includes coastal, pluvial/surface water and fluvial modelling) but are only indicative and subject to change. The latest data is available from the Environment Agency and any updates to the SFRA. We have published a Sustainable Drainage Systems ‘SUDS Design Guide’ to provide assistance.
19377A guide to assist developers and other individuals in designing drainage systems incorporating SuDS features and provide information to aid approval of these features within Torbay.