WEA Planning are Hillingdon planning consultants offering advice on all levels of planning application from small-scale house conversions up to large commercial projects.
We can help you gain the planning permission you need, regardless of the type of proposal:
Confirmation that a development can be built using permitted development rights.
Prior notification - an express application scheme for smaller projects.
Development in Hillingdon conservation areas or where you need listed building consent.
Change of use in Hillingdon - for applications where no structural changes take place, but the building is used for a different purpose.
Residential extensions, basements or loft conversions in Hillingdon.
Commercial developments, including new build and change of use.
Our experience working on planning projects in across London covers all the different stages of the planning process.
We can help you with:
Initial consultations and pre-application submissions.
Making a full planning application to the London Borough of Hillingdon.
Applications to remove or vary a planning condition.
Negotiating Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) contributions.
Obtaining Certificates of lawful use.
Planning appeals and public inquiries.
Making representations at Hillingdon planning committee meetings. Most applications will not need to go this go through this process, but even a smaller planning application can be called before the committee if there are a sufficient number of unsatisfied objections.
With experience across many different sectors, WEA Planning can help with your scheme, whatever the nature and type of building proposal it is. We have worked on all of the following types of scheme across London:
Residential schemes, including securing planning permission for large garden outbuildings, extensions, home offices and conversions from offices to flats.
Commercial planning applications.
Educational buildings, health centres and similar such public sector planning applications.
Other usage types (sui generis). This planning application type covers any kind of building which does not already have its own usage class.
Geographically the most westerly of the London boroughs, due to having a large amount of green space, Hillingdon is also one of the least densely populated. With a population of just under 300,000, Hillingdon would be comparable to a location such as Coventry if it was a city in its own right.
Yet actually, the economic power of Hillingdon is deceptive, as it is bolstered so much by the presence of Heathrow airport in the southern part of the borough. This factor means that the borough of Hillingdon is actually the fifth-largest of any of the London boroughs in economic terms.
Hillingdon Planning Advice
WEA Planning advice can offer a range of planning consultancy services in Hillingdon and other adjacent London boroughs. In particular, we can offer advice on the following:
Submitting planning applications in the London Borough of Hillingdon.
Hillingdon Council planning appeals.
Permitted development rights and advice.
Advice on extensions, loft conversions, garages and other house alterations.
Change of use, including retail to catering, residential to office and similar schemes that need Hillingdon council planning permission.
Help with writing planning applications to make it more likely that you will gain panning permission.
Advertising consent.
Hillingdon Planning Application help
Whatever type of planning application you are considering in Hillingdon, WEA Planning can help take you through the process, including the following:
Initial planning advice on your Hillingdon scheme, including;
Detailing how your scheme is aligned with Hillingdon planning policies.
Making representation to the Hillingdon planning committee, including further written submissions and speaking at the event, should these be needed. Note that around 85% of UK planning applications are dealt with by planning officers, using what are known as delegated powers.
Ensuring that your full planning application is compliant with any additional planning approvals which may be needed, such as Hillingdon advertising consent, or listed building approval.
Making sure your scheme is compatible with existing policies if your property resides within a Hillingdon Conservation Area.
The above services are just a small summary of ways in which WEA Planning can help with the approvals process for your scheme.
Naturally, as is common with any built-up area on the edge of a large metropolitan zone, development pressures facing the Hillingdon planning authority include classic arguments about building on the green belt, combined with typical urban challenges such as densification of existing sites, change of use and pressure for residential accommodation.
A particular long-standing Hillingdon planning concern has always been what to do with Heathrow airport, which remains Europe's busiest international airport, despite having a far larger noise footprint than Paris Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam Schiphol and Frankfurt International combined.
Whilst planners in Hillingdon will no doubt await updates to the expansion plans, the presence of Heathrow airport continues to present more rudimentary challenges for planning in Hillingdon in the more foreseeable future. These include planning enough homes to cater for Heathrow airport workers and other local demands, together with the immense pressures that an airport the size of Heathrow places on the local transport network.
Hillingdon has good access to the national motorway network via the M4 or the M25. In terms of local surface transport, the suburban nature of Hillingdon means that the majority of local journeys are undertaken by car, although the Great Western main line, which runs East to West through the borough, and to a lesser extent the Chiltern Main line, which calls that South Ruislip in the north-east of the borough, are useful for commuting in and out of Central London.
The London Borough of Hillingdon is served by three underground rail corridors, although they are all above surface through the borough, except for tunnels into Heathrow airport and underneath the town centre at Uxbridge.
A reasonable network of buses operates throughout the London Borough of Hillingdon, with a range of services operating via Heathrow airport, which naturally acts as a substantial transport magnet in the area.
Due to the longer commuting distances and the relatively poor state of local infrastructure, walking and cycling rates in Hillingdon are low by London standards. WEA Planning are Hillingdon planning consultants who can advise on a range of different planning issues in the borough.
Further restrictions on development in LB Hillingdon (Article 4 Directions)
It is important to note LB Hillingdon has three key Article 4 Directions impacting development in the area:
- The withdrawal of Permitted Development Rights (identified in Class P, Part 3 of Schedule 2 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) (Amendment) Order 2016) for the change of use of a building and any land falling within Class B1(c) (Light industrial) to C3 (dwelling houses) within identified locations (see locations below).
- The enlargement, improvement or other alteration of a dwelling house where the enlarged part (in accordance with Town and Countrv Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995*) would have a single storey and would (i) Extend beyond the rear wall of the original dwellinghouse by more than 4 metres.
- Change of use from a use falling within Class C3 (dwellinghouse) of the Schedule to the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 to a use falling within Class C4 (houses in multiple occupation), being development comprised within Class I of Part 3 of Schedule 2 to the said Order and not being development comprised within any other Class.
* The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 has subsequently been replaced by The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 2015 (as amended).
The protected industrial locations are listed below:
{i) Uxbridge Industrial Area:
{ii) Hayes Industrial Area - designated areas of PIL outside the Hayes Housing Zone Strategic Industrial Locations: Industrial Business Parks:
{iii) North Uxbridge Industrial Estate
Proposed Locally Significant Employment Locations:
{iv) Stockley Park
{v) Bath Road Sites
Proposed Locally Significant Industrial Sites:
{vi) Packet Boat Lane LSIS
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Please note:
WEA Planning is an independent Hillingdon planning consultancy.
Although we are not associated with the London Borough of Hillingdon, we can offer planning advice on any application within this part of London. If you simply want an update on an existing Hillingdon application, or want to view planning applications which have already been submitted, please contact the Hillingdon council planning team directly.