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Design and Access Statements are short reports that accompany and support planning applications and are a statutory requirement.
From 25 June 2013 applications for planning permission (either full or outline applications) for:
A) development which is major development . Major development is:-
OR
B) development in, or part of which is in, a conservation area and consists of the provision of one or more dwellinghouses or the provision of a building or buildings with a floor area of 100 square metres or more must be accompanied by a Design and Access Statement.
Failure to submit a Statement when one is required is likely to result in delay (because the application will not be validated without one).
The requirement to provide a Design and Access Statement does not apply to applications:
(a) for permission to develop land without compliance with conditions previously attached, made pursuant to section 73 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 Act;
(b) of the description contained in article 18(1)(b) or (c) of the T & C P (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2010;
(c) for engineering or mining operations;
(d) for the material change in use of land or buildings;
(e) for development which is waste development.
The Statement must deal with both the design principles and concepts that have been applied to the development and how issues relating to the access to the development have been dealt with.
What must a Design and Access Statement contain?
Article 8(2) of the T & C P (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2010 states that a Design and Access Statement should:
(a) explain the design principles and concepts that have been applied to the development;
(b) demonstrate the steps taken to appraise the context of the development and how the design of the development takes that context into account;
(c) explain the policy adopted as to access, and how policies relating to access in relevant local development documents have been taken into account;
(d) state what, if any, consultation has been undertaken on issues relating to access to the development and what account has been taken of the outcome of any such consultation; and
(e) explain how any specific issues which might affect access to the development have been addressed.
The level of detail in a Design and Access Statement should be proportionate to the complexity of the application, but should not be long. For most straightforward planning applications, the DAS may only need to be a page long.
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