Pre-application advice
We provide a pre-application advice service. This is the stage before submitting a planning application. A Planning Officer will provide advice about your proposed application.
The fees and guidance for these services vary depending on your application and can be found in the table below. Further information about our pre-application advice service, including terms and conditions, can be found in the guidance notes.
For more details on any of our services provided and the costs involved, please see our fees and charges below.
Fees and charges
| Service level | Description | Householder | Minor | Major | Large major |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze |
Written desk based response
| £55 | £166 | £553 | £775 |
| Silver |
Meeting at the council offices, followed by a written response
| £111 | £221 | £664 | £885 |
| Gold |
Onsite meeting followed by a written response
| £166 | £277 | £719 | £940 |
| Platinum |
Planning Performance Agreement*
| £221 | £443 | £885 | £1,106 |
*We encourage the use of planning performance agreements for developers considering large-scale planning applications. The agreement brings together the developer and a dedicated planning officer at an early stage to work through the planning process. Further information can be found in the Planning Performance Agreement guidance. You can also use our template Planning Performance Agreement.
In addition to the pre-application advice service, we provide other discretionary advice services at a cost. An officer will provide advice in relation to matters including:
- protected trees
- biodiversity
- the historic environment (including archaeological matters)
- rights of way
- enforcement queries
- planning-related restrictions and the use class of land and buildings
- enforcement or legal agreements
- Building Control
For more details on any of our services provided and the costs involved, please see our fees and charges (PDF, 428KB). You can apply for this advice by emailing planning.enquiries@iow.gov.uk.
Local record centre
The Local Record Centre holds biodiversity information for the Island, which can help planning
applications.
Wildlife assessment check
The Wildlife Assessment Check is a free online tool provided by the Partnership for Biodiversity in Planning. It is for householders and small- to medium-scale developers who want to undertake a development project to check whether they will need expert ecological advice before submitting a planning application. This tool is not intended for large development projects where formal Environmental Impact Assessments are required.
Freedom of information
Pre-application advice requests and the response will be made available to the public if requested. Where we agree, we will not release this information if the applicant considers that it should be exempt under the Freedom of Information Act or the Environmental Information Regulations. If information is released, any personal information will be excluded.