Planning in South Devon National Landscape

Planning Protocol

A copy of the planning protocol, first adopted by the South Devon National Landscape Partnership in March 2020 and updated in June 2023, is available to download from this page. If you require a different format please contact us.

The following is a summary of the protocol, showing how the National Landscape Partnership is involved in planning and development control issues.

The National Landscape team, acting on behalf of the National Landscape Partnership, will:

• Seek to make a positive contribution to the making and revision of development plans (local, unitary and neighbourhood plans) and marine plans relevant to the South Devon National Landscape.
• Provide constructive advice and information on National Landscape matters in response to requests from planning authorities.
• Provide comments in response to individual development management consultations for proposals that fall within the Consultation Triggers Criteria listed below. The National Landscape team will endeavour to provide a response within 28 days of the date of a consultation request or within such other period as might be agreed between the National Landscape team and the relevant local planning authority.

The local planning authorities will:

• Refer relevant planning applications to the National Landscape team for comment following the Consultation Triggers Criteria, identifying those applications likely to have a significant impact on the natural beauty of the South Devon National Landscape at the application registration stage.
• For proposals that fall outside of the consultation trigger criteria, use the South Devon National Landscape Management Plan and Planning Guidance Annex to guide decision making on National Landscape matters against relevant development plan and NPPF policies.
• Provide access to sufficient details about submitted applications to enable informed comments to be made.
• Record and treat a written comment from the National Landscape team as a representation from an outside body, rather than as an internal officer comment.
• In cases where the National Landscape team is unable to respond to a consultation this should not be taken to mean that the Partnership does not consider there to be any (significant) adverse impacts on the purpose of National Landscape designation. For the avoidance of doubt, the absence of a consultation response must not be taken to mean no objection.
• Link and signpost as appropriate applicants requiring pre-application advice on designated landscape matters to the separate parallel paid-for service if or when instigated by the South Devon National Landscape Partnership.
• Maintain appropriate levels of professional knowledge relating to designated landscape matters including within the development management, strategic planning and landscape functions of the local planning authorities.
• Send copies of relevant decision notices and any subsequent appeal decisions, to the National Landscape team in relation to applications it has commented on.
• Assist the National Landscape team in extracting and compiling monitoring data on decision-taking for reports to Defra and the South Devon National Landscape Partnership.

The National Landscape team will*:

• Provide a response to development management consultation requests within 28 days of the date of a request or within such other period as might be agreed between the National Landscape Partnership and the relevant local planning authority.
• Liaise with case officers, landscape specialists and other relevant specialists as appropriate.
• Relate comments to relevant Local Plan, Neighbourhood Plan and National Planning Policy Framework policies.
• Refer to relevant National Landscape Management Plan policies, natural beauty criteria and National Landscape special qualities in any comments made.
• Confirm that comments made are those of the National Landscape team in its professional capacity and not of the National Landscape Partnership collectively.
• Support local planning authorities in appeal cases or inquiries where National Landscape matters are pivotal and as workload allows.
• Assist with local planning authority staff and elected member training on National Landscape matters.
• Continue to direct enquiries for pre-application advice to the relevant local planning authority pre-application service.

*As a small staff team with limited resources, there will be occasions when the National Landscape team will be unable to respond to consultation requests due to the range of other projects, activities and casework being undertaken at any time.

Consultation Triggers Criteria*

The Local Planning Authorities will normally consult the National Landscape Staff team acting on behalf of the South Devon National Landscape Partnership on proposals that meet the following criteria:

Within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (National Landscape)

• Major development, as defined in the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015 (Part 1, Article (2)(1)), including housing development of 10 or more dwellings but excluding minerals and waste development (for which Criteria 3-7, below, should be applied). See Appendix 1 of the Planning Protocol, note 1
• Isolated homes in the countryside (i.e. development that meets the requirements of paragraph 79 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF 2019)).
• Schedule 1 development under the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (EIA) Regulations 2017. See Appendix 1 of the Planning Protocol, note 2
• Schedule 2 development under the EIA Regulations, including screening opinion and scoping opinion consultations. (For pre-screening, please only consult the Partnership on proposals for 10 or more dwellings under ‘Urban Development Projects’, and all other proposals that are above the Schedule 2 ‘applicable thresholds and criteria’). See Appendix 1 of the Planning Protocol, note 3
• EIA Schedule 2 development that the case officer, post-screening, considers likely to have significant adverse environmental effects and, therefore, requires an EIA. See Appendix 1 of the Planning Protocol, note 4
• Cases which the case officer considers could potentially be major development in the context of paragraphs 176 and 177 together with footnote 60 of the NPPF 2021. Note similar requirements where potentially major development relates to the South Devon Heritage Coast in the context of paragraph 178 together with footnote 60 of the NPPF 2021. See Appendix 1 of the Planning Protocol, notes 5 & 6

Within or outside the South Devon National Landscape

• Cases which the local planning authority case officer considers could potentially:
  • Have a significant adverse impact on the statutory purpose of National Landscape designation (to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the South Devon National Landscape), including relevant EIA Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 proposals outside the National Landscape . See Appendix 1 of the Planning Protocol, note 6
  • Set an important precedent that could fundamentally affect the statutory purpose of National Landscape designation. See Appendix 1 of the Planning Protocol, note 6
  • have cumulative significance for the South Devon National Landscape.

Development management cases that the National Landscape Partnership should not be consulted on (unless the case matches one or more of the criteria outlined above)

• Alteration, demolition or change of use of single buildings, including household extensions and replacement buildings.

*With thanks to, and based upon material shared by, the Cotswolds National Landscape Conservation Board.

Construction Environmental Management Plan

With the environmental pressures caused by development only set to increase, the South Devon National Landscape team has produced a guide to encourage and aid the production of considerate and complete Construction Environmental Management Plans.

What is a CEMP?

A Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) is a working document that considers and details how a development will protect, and increasingly conserve and enhance, the environment and mitigate against any potential impacts to the local community and species – particularly during the construction phase.

Some consideration should also be given to how the development might ultimately be most sustainably repurposed, deconstructed and/or recycled.

Ideally, the ethos of the CEMP should carry through the full ‘cradle to grave’ life of any development project with the relevant consideration given from the initial planning and design stages to minimise the project’s environmental footprint, right through to the development’s end use and maintenance.

A CEMP is produced, depending upon the circumstances of the project, by the site developer, owner, or contractor. It can be thought of as the equivalent of a health and safety risk assessment for the surrounding environmental and social landscape into which the development is embedded.

For development in the South Devon National Landscape area, the production of a comprehensive CEMP informs and reassures the National Landscape Partnership, the Local Planning Authorities and local people that you have carefully considered the complete construction process, identified all foreseeable issues and detailed how you will prevent, mitigate and compensate any negative impacts. Where a Marine License is required, the Marine Management Organisation will also be involved.

Importantly, it may help to provide the Local Planning Authority with all the information needed to make an informed decision regarding approval. Indeed, for some developments, the production of an approved CEMP may be required as a condition of approval prior to the commencement of any development on the site, to allow for direct contractor involvement.

Development of renewable energy

The South Devon National Landscape Partnership is committed to adopting a positive approach to the development of renewable energy technologies in the area, while at the same time having regard for the primary statutory purpose of conserving and enhancing the natural beauty of the area. The Partnership has a Renewable Energy Position Statement, a copy can be downloaded from this page. If you require a different format please contact us.

⬇️ AONB – Planning Protocol V2.1

⬇️ Annex 1 – Planning Guidance

⬇️ AONB – Construction Environmental Management Plan

⬇️ AONB – Renewable Energy Position Statement