Pre-application advice

The council can provide you with advice and information if you are considering a development proposal and welcomes discussions before you submit a planning application – whatever it is for. This is called the Pre-application Enquiry Service.

Pre-application engagement is promoted through Government guidance within the National Planning Policy Framework:

“Early engagement has significant potential to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the planning application system for all parties. Good quality pre-application discussion enables better coordination between public and private resources and improved outcomes for the community.”

If you would like professional guidance for your development proposals, we offer a high quality pre-application advice service. This will help with any subsequent planning application.

Why make a pre-application enquiry?

Our service will help you:

  • understand how our policies will be applied to your proposal
  • identify potential problems and resolve them before you make an application
  • prevent costly and time consuming amendments to schemes later
  • Identify what information will be required with your planning application

The service with help us:

  • Identify schemes that can likely be supported
  • Avoid delays in the planning application process through early engagement of key parties

How to apply

To apply for the development enquiry service, please complete the form below and submit your enquiry to planningapplications@wirral.gov.uk

The PDF file below may not be suitable to view for people with disabilities, users of assistive technology or mobile phone devices.

We also recommend that your application should include the following information as a minimum:

  • Location plan at scale 1:1250 or 1:2500
  • Existing and proposed drawings showing site layout, elevations, internal layout etc.

Any other information to enable us to provide appropriate advice.

Fees and charges

A charge is made for our pre-application enquiry service. Fees vary depending on the size of your development, see the PDF below for a full list of our pre-app fees and charges.

The PDF file below may not be suitable to view for people with disabilities, users of assistive technology or mobile phone devices.

Payment can be made online below (select 'Other Payments', then 'Planning'):

Make a payment

What can you expect from the council?

Your application will be allocated to a named case officer, and we will aim to acknowledge your enquiry within 5 working days.

In all cases, a written response will be provided covering the following matters:

  • relevant planning history
  • assessment of the proposal against relevant policies in Wirral’s Local Plan and the NPPF (NB the level of detail we can provide often depends on the level of detail you provide with your application)
  • establish the main planning issues
  • feedback from internal consultees within the Council where appropriate (including BNG where information submitted)
  • reports and information required
  • likely recommendation
  • S.106 requirements and financial contributions
  • feedback from MEAS if the additional fee has been paid

Meetings

We offer the opportunity to include a site meeting or MS Teams meeting with all pre-app enquiries. Please note that additional charges apply if you would like to include a site meeting or MS Teams meeting in the process.

Where no meetings are included, the response will be produced from a desk-based study.

Timescales

For Householder, Minor and Other enquiries we aim to provide a written response within 20 working days. Where a meeting is included in the process we aim to provide the written response within 25 working days.

For Major development we aim to provide a written response within 30 days, or 35 days where a meeting is included in the process.

Pre-app response review meeting

After you have received your Pre-App response, we offer the opportunity for a review meeting subject to an additional charge. The meeting should last around 1 hour and the case officer will provide a written summary of the discussion and points agreed.

Pre-decision Member engagement

View Protocol for pre-application and pre-decision Member Engagement Briefing

Advice for householders

General guidance on permitted development is available on the Planning Portal.

If you want to know that your proposal does not need planning permission and you would like formal confirmation, you can apply for a Lawful Development Certificate (LDC).  In this case, you will receive a decision notice, which is a legal document. Your application will be recorded in the public register of planning applications.

Further general guidance on Lawful Development Certificates is available on the planning portal website.

Should it be deemed that the proposals in your pre-app enquiry are likely to comply with permitted development rights, this will be communicated in the pre-application letter and the submission of a lawful development certificate for formal confirmation would be advised.

Merseyside Environmental Advisory Service (MEAS)

Wirral Council strongly encourages consultation with Merseyside Environmental Advisory Service (MEAS) as part of the pre-application process to help facilitate the development management process where appropriate.

Your request for pre-application advice and any fee paid to the council does not include the fee for Merseyside Environmental Advisory Service, who are the council’s specialist environmental advisor on ecology and archaeologically matters. 

The following table shows the additional fees payable for receiving pre-app advice from MEAS:

The scope of pre-application advice from MEAS includes matters relating to aggregates, archaeology, contaminated land, ecology, historic environment, low carbon energy, minerals, nature conservation, sustainable waste management and waste. Advice on EIA will be provided where appropriate. More detail on the scope of MEAS technical services can be found on the MEAS website.

If you choose not to seek advice from MEAS as part of your pre-app, our advice will not cover these matters in any detail.

For the avoidance of doubt the council cannot require an applicant to request pre-application advice from MEAS but it is an important risk-reduction tool and early consultation with MEAS will assist in planning for required information and assessments, including environmental surveys that are likely to be needed before you submit a planning application or other application for consent  and may lead to a faster decision. 

Householder applications are unlikely to require MEAS consultation unless there are significant ecological issues involved.

You may wish to contact MEAS directly by emailing measdcconsultations@sefton.gov.uk or calling 0151 934 4951.

Before you apply

When you submit your pre-application please note that all of these applications, except initial scoping meetings, will normally be in the public domain. 

If the Local Planning Authority receives a request, under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) or Environmental Information Regulations (EIR), to disclose information relating to this pre-application enquiry they are obliged to do so unless the information is deemed exempt under the FOI or EIR Acts.

We can only withhold information under FOI or EIR if the information falls under one of the exemptions (FOI) or exceptions (EIR) set out in legislation for commercially sensitive information.

If we cannot agree with you on the sensitivity of the information you submit then you will be given the option not to proceed with the pre application. The council maintains compliance to the Data Protection Act and we will not release any personal information to third parties.

Pre-application privacy notice

Planning Performance Agreements (PPA)

Read information about our PPA services if you wish to incorporate your pre-app enquiry into a PPA.

The Planning Performance Agreement (PPA) service is strongly recommended for Major Planning Applications. The PPA process can be discussed at the closing stages of an initial pre-application meeting once it has been established that development proposals are either acceptable in principle; or the LPA without prejudice have a degree of confidence that a departure from the plan maybe justifiable.