Planning Performance Agreements (PPAs)

A Planning Performance Agreement or PPA is an agreement between us and yourself as prospective applicant or developer. It covers the process that will be followed in respect of your planning application or pre-application query.

A PPA will enable a bespoke programme to be agreed for the processing of your application. It could include commitments to key milestones, the submission of documentation, the frequency and scope of meetings and ultimately a final determination and/or committee date. It may also include funding arrangements for any third-party input or involvement.

This page gives an overview of our PPA service, or you can download a PDF version of the guide.

PDF Icon Planning Performance Agreements Guidance - pdf - 583 Kb

What are the advantages of a Planning Performance Agreement?

A PPA offers a number of key benefits to a prospective applicant including:

Confidence in timescales

A key element of a PPA is a bespoke timescale for your application's key milestones and final determination. We will be committed to the agreed programme, subject of course to any commitments made by the other party

Increased opportunity to resolve issues

We can help you resolve any planning issues that arise with your proposal for all applications (whether there is a PPA in place or not). However, there is limited number of opportunities to do this. With a PPA in place, a programme for multiple submissions can be agreed together with any associated re-consultation periods. This is particularly useful for a complex pre-application submission.

Open-door approach

As a customer of our PPA service you will have easy and direct access to the council’s planning team. You will be given a named contact in each council department involved in or consulted in respect of your proposal. You will have easy and direct access to the planning case officer who will adopt a proactive project management approach (see below).

Proactive engagement

Closely aligned with our open-door approach outlined above, is a commitment to proactively and positively engage with you as the applicant. This includes regular communication, application updates and the timely sharing of information for comment, such as draft planning conditions. The nature and frequency of our engagement can be formally written into the PPA, as well as a commitment to informally engage as and when required.

High prioritisation

Your application will be prioritised over those applications or pre-application queries that are not accompanied by a PPA. In practice this means that you will be able to meet more quickly with our officers and we will prioritise responding to your questions, dealing with any issues with your application and producing your report. This is a significant benefit in a busy and stretched local planning department.

Value for money

All of the above is included for a competitive fee, offering outstanding value for money. You’ll benefit from greater confidence, peace of mind and proactive support throughout the process. Ultimately our PPA service will significantly de-risk your project and reduce the likelihood of an unsuccessful outcome.

Funding your PPA

Despite recent nationally imposed increases, your planning application fee (or pre-app fee) is not sufficient to cover the additional costs of providing our PPA service. An additional fee is needed to ensure that the service can be properly resourced.

The PPA fees set out below are based on the scale and assumed complexity of your application or pre-application. Please note that all fees quoted do not include VAT.

There is a fixed PPA fee for small and minor scale developments. Medium to large scale developments, however, can vary hugely in terms of their complexity and officer demand. Therefore an initial ‘inception fee’ is payable at the outset, followed by an hourly officer rate. This hourly rate applies to all officers involved in the application process including administration and validation support as well as the case officer themselves, management support and internal consultee input.

Planning performance agreement fees
PPA category	Additional PPA fee (excl. VAT)
Large scale major (100+ homes)	£8,000 inception fee + hourly rate
Medium scale major (50 to 99 homes)	£6,000 inception fee + hourly rate
Small scale major (10 to 49 homes)	£6,000 total
Minor scale (5 to 9 homes)	£3,000 total
Minor scale (1 to 4 homes)	£2,000 total
Works to listed buildings	£350 total

Please bear in mind that the PPA fee above is payable in addition to the statutory application fee set by planning regulations. In the case of pre-app PPAs the fee is in addition to the pre-app fee.

The cost of any external consultants is expected to be met in full by the applicant. However, we will not instruct consultants until you have first agreed to their instruction and approved the quote in writing.

Tthe following hourly rates will apply to medium and large-scale Planning Performance Agreements (in addition to the stated inception fee):

Hourly rates for medium and large scale PPAs
Officer	Hourly rate (excl. VAT)
Management or head of service	£112
Principal planning officer (or same grade)	£96
Senior planning officer or consultee (or same grade)	£86
Business support (or same grade)	£73

The PPA fee is payable upfront at, or soon after, the validation of your application or pre-app submission. Where an additional hourly rate applies, the payment arrangements for this will be detailed in the PPA itself. For example, this could include monthly cost ceilings. We will invoice you on a monthly basis unless agreed otherwise.

A PPA sounds like a good idea, what should I do next?

Please come and speak to us. We will check that a PPA is the right option for you and if so, discuss and agree the detail. In the first instance please contact the head of planning or the development management manager by emailing planning@cheltenham.gov.uk.

If you are already dealing with one of our planning or conservation officers, then please raise the matter with them and they will take it forward.