Proposed fee increases could see residents charged by Worthing Borough Council for planning advice.
A report to the council’s planning committee at its meeting on Wednesday, July 24, detailed pre-planning fee increases the council, and its partner authority Adur District Council, hoped to introduce in September this year.
The changes would also see householders charged £75 by the council for planning advice – for example, on a home extension – whether an application is needed or not for their plans.
Council officers stated they hoped this would push people to the council website for planning advice, instead of using up planning officers’ time, adding other authorities in West Sussex were charging between £50 and £100 for planning advice.
They said the council received 214 requests for information last year for which it could have charged under the changes, which would have netted £16,050. They added they expected the figure to be less if charges were introduced, due to people wanting to avoid the added expense.
Councillor Samuel Theodoridi (Lab, Castle) said residents getting extensions to accommodate disabilities might, therefore, be getting charged because of their disability, adding the council could also look at not charging people ‘struggling financially’.
Andy Whight (Lab, Marine) said the average price of a home extension was around £2,500 to £3,000 per square metre, and that the £75 advice fee for people seeking large changes to their home would only be for people who could afford those changes.
Planning officers stated that given the council subsidises some extensions for people with disabilities, people seeking advice for those plans would likely not be charged under the changes.
Hillary Schan (Ind, Tarring) said the council should not be ‘punishing’ people for wanting to follow the planning rules, saying enforcement costs to the council could go up because of the charge as people might avoid looking up planning requirements altogether.
The fee for submitting an application to the council for householders is also set to increase in the changes, from £145 to £150.
The council is also looking to increase pre-application fees with ‘minor’ applications, less than ten homes, for one to four homes going from £500 to £750 and applications for five to nine homes going from £700 to £1,500.
