Planning pre-application services

The PPA service provides:

• a comprehensive and personalised service that provides detailed written advice
• advice on the design and feasibility of work involved
• advice on supporting documentation to provide with your application
• a structured timetable and negotiated solutions that are agreed by all parties

The PPA service can help to improve overall quality of your development.

Who can use the service

The PPA is designed for the largest development proposals that are likely to raise a number of issues. These include the following development types:

• provision of 25 or more dwellings
• provision of 25 or more dwellings across more than one site
• development of tall buildings that exceed the London Mayoral referral threshold
• provision of over 10,000 square metres of commercial space
• change of use of over 10,000 square metres of floorspace
• development of a site more than 2.5 hectares
• reserved matters pursuant to outline planning permissions relating to large scale major development
• other bespoke arrangements that are not covered by the services set out in customer advice note 1

If your proposal is already at an advanced stage

Depending on the scale and complexity of your proposal, we recommend you have a pre-application meeting rather than a PPA.

If your proposal involves flood and water management

You'll need to arrange a discussion with the Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA).

What to expect from PPA

The PPA process will involve a number of meetings, managed by a planning officer and a Place Review conducted by Croydon's Design Review panel.

The whole process involves:

• in-depth research
• consultation with statutory and non-statutory bodies
• presentations to our Planning Committee
• community engagement, this organised by the developer's team

Before your first meeting

You'll have an initial inception, which will seek to agree how the pre-application engagement between you and the planning committee will run.

For this initial inception, you'll need to provide:

• details of the site location on an Ordnance Survey Map
• a description of the development
• a completed pre-application request form
• initial conceptual idea
• your approach to the design and policy compliance, for example, sustainability credentials

Planning Performance Agreements (PPA)

You'll also agree on PPA terms and general pre-application timeframes and deadlines.

This includes:

• how much you'll need to pay towards a dedicated planning case officer support
• any independent consultancy service that you may need at the pre-application stage

If your development exceeds the London Mayoral referral threshold

You may need a more in-depth discussion with some key senior council officers and developers who are promoting key regenerative projects at a more corporate level. These meetings are free of charge.

For more information on the PPA meeting process, read our Customer Advice Note (page 26) PDF, 324KB. 

How much it costs

You'll need to pay an upfront fee for your inception meeting. After this, you'll need to pay 50% of your agreed PPA meetings before they take place.

DTS process	Fee (plus VAT)
Inception meeting	£5,625
Per meeting after inception meeting	£2,500
Presentations to Planning Committee at pre-application stage	£3,750
Officer time will be costed depending on the scale, complexity and timescales of the project discussions	Price on application

Complete the form and pay the fee

Complete the pre-application form (Word Doc, 120KB) and make sure you tick 'Service Level H: Planning performance agreement (PPA)' on the form.

Post or email your request and payment

You can send your application and supporting documents by:

Email: development.management@croydon.gov.uk

Post:

Development Management 6th Floor, Zone B
Bernard Weatherill House
8 Mint Walk
Croydon
CR0 1EA 

Or

You will also need to include the fee with your pre-application form. We will not validate the request until the fee has been paid upfront.

There are a number of ways you can pay the fee.