As professional planning consultants in Chorley, we work with clients across Lancashire on a wide range of planning projects. Whether you’re adding an extension, redeveloping land, or pursuing a new housing scheme, we’ll help you create a well-prepared application.
With accreditation from the Royal Town Planning Institute, our consultants provide reliable advice grounded in local knowledge. This gives you the reassurance of receiving advice informed by recognised professional, ethical and planning standards. We help individuals, landlords, and developers make confident, compliant planning decisions by helping you identify constraints early, understand the development potential of your site and establish the most suitable planning strategy before committing significant time or money.
If your site is affected by Green Belt, open countryside, conservation areas or other planning designations, understanding these restrictions early can help you avoid pursuing an unsuitable proposal and focus your investment on options with a stronger planning basis.
Whether your project is residential, commercial, agricultural, heritage or rural, you’ll receive advice tailored to the particular planning and regulatory requirements affecting your development.
If you’re looking for planning consultants in Chorley, contact our specialists today.
Residential Planning Consultants
Whether it’s a new home for yourself, an extension or something else, we can help you create a suitable plan for your residential development. Before you submit an application, you can understand how issues such as neighbouring residential amenity, access, design and local policy could affect your proposal, giving you the opportunity to address potential problems at an earlier stage.
Commercial Planning Consultants
In addition to individuals, we regularly work with developers in the Chorley area, helping with new-build construction planning and change-of-use applications. From assessing whether your idea is viable to preparing the planning case, you can receive support throughout the process, rather than managing each stage independently.
Heritage Planning Consultants
Many heritage areas have a conservation area, where additional controls can affect the changes you can make to a property. We can help you work with the local Chorley Council so you understand what is likely to be acceptable and can shape your proposal around the character and planning requirements of the area.
If your property is affected by an Article 4 direction, some works that might normally benefit from permitted development rights could require planning permission. Checking this before work begins can help you avoid unexpected applications, enforcement concerns or delays later.
Listed Building Planning Consultants
With the laws around listed buildings like a maze, it’s helpful to have someone who knows how to navigate it. Over the years, we have worked on many listed building projects. If your proposal affects a listed building, you can establish early whether listed building consent is required and what supporting information may be needed, helping you plan the project and its likely costs more accurately.
You can also receive specialist advice where your property lies within a conservation area, helping you understand how heritage considerations may affect its design and development potential.
Rural and Green Belt Planning
If you own land or property within the Green Belt or open countryside around Chorley, the development opportunities available to you can differ significantly from those within established settlements. An early assessment can help you understand which policies apply, whether your proposal may be acceptable in principle and whether issues such as very special circumstances need to be addressed.
This can be particularly valuable before purchasing land, commissioning detailed drawings or investing in specialist reports, as you can make those decisions with a clearer understanding of the site’s realistic development potential.
Our initial stage is to plan and review your current proposals, giving you a clearer understanding of your options, the likely planning risks and how your proposal could be strengthened before you progress further. We will then offer site assessments that will include planning history, limiting factors and a review of planning policies, so you can understand how previous decisions, local policies and site constraints may influence your chances of success.
A site appraisal can be particularly useful if you are considering buying, selling or developing land. By identifying planning constraints and opportunities early, you can make more informed decisions about the value and development potential of the site before making a significant financial commitment.
If your proposal requires technical input, you can also benefit from a coordinated approach involving architects, engineers, ecologists and other specialists, helping reduce the burden of managing multiple disciplines yourself.
Whether your project is residential, commercial or a household application, our team will tailor our advice to the site and your requirements. Our overall aim is to make your application efficient and cost-effective.
Where pre-application engagement is worthwhile, you can gain an early indication of the council’s position before submitting a full application. This may allow you to address concerns, revise parts of the scheme and avoid spending money progressing an approach that officers are unlikely to support.
Clear communication throughout this stage also means you can understand what the council is asking for and why, rather than having to interpret technical planning feedback on your own.
Whether your project is a residential, commercial or householder application, our approach is tailored to the site and your requirements. Our overarching aim is to make your application efficient and cost-effective. We will draw together all the key elements you need for your planning application with a goal to deliver the results you want.
Your application may require several different documents, drawings, planning statements and specialist assessments. Having these coordinated for you can help ensure the submission is complete, consistent and clearly explains why your proposal should be supported.
You’ll also know what information is required before submission, reducing the risk of avoidable validation delays or requests for missing documents.
We are able to carry out all types of appeal work from householder appeals through to major residential or commercial schemes. We can deliver the most appropriate strategy and appeal for your scheme to provide it with the best chance of success.
If your application has been refused, you can receive a clear assessment of the reasons before deciding whether to appeal. This allows you to understand the strength of your position and whether an appeal, revised application or alternative strategy is likely to be the better use of your time and budget.
Where an appeal is appropriate, the case can be prepared using the relevant form of representation so you have a structured response to the council’s reasons for refusal.
Some extensions, building works and changes of use can take place under permitted development rights rather than through a full planning application. Establishing whether those rights apply to your property could give you a simpler or more cost-effective route to achieving your plans.
However, permitted development rights can be restricted by conditions or Article 4 directions. Chorley also has a borough-wide direction affecting changes from C3 dwellinghouses to small C4 HMOs. Checking the position first means you can avoid relying on rights that have been removed and understand whether planning permission, prior approval or another consent is actually required.
We have considerable experience in preparing applications for Certificates of Lawfulness relating to existing or proposed uses or development. We access have access to our own planning solicitor who has extensive expertise and success in the preparation and submission of applications for Certificates of Lawfulness, we are able to provide you with direct legal support and therefore cutting out the use of a third party which could result in a saving of time and fees.
Should you require more information on the planning consulting services we offer, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch. One of our team is always on hand to answer questions and deal with enquiries.
If you’re unsure where to begin, we’ll walk you through each stage of the planning process. From your initial enquiry and feasibility study, through to submitting a full planning application and handling any appeals, we’re with you at every step. You’ll receive expert planning advice tailored to your project, helping you reduce delays and gain the confidence to move forward with your plans.
For sites affected by Green Belt, open countryside, safeguarded land, flood risk, ecology, landscape or access constraints, an early consultation can give you a clearer picture of what you are dealing with before further costs are incurred. You can then decide whether to proceed, amend the proposal or investigate an alternative approach.
You’ll also receive clarity over the likely scope and cost of the planning work. A transparent fee structure helps you budget more confidently and understand where further costs could arise if additional reports, meetings or negotiations become necessary. You can find further information on our planning fees and costs.
When it comes to planning consultations, be sure to get in touch with us today. We have a team of planning experts who will work closely with you throughout the project. Get in touch today!
Our planning consultants are highly experienced in working with Chorley Council and other local authorities in the North West. We’ll:
Planning policy in Chorley is currently evolving. The existing Chorley Local Plan 2012–2026 remains part of the planning framework, while Chorley Council, Preston City Council and South Ribble Borough Council are progressing the new Central Lancashire Local Plan for the period 2023–2041.
For you as a landowner, developer or property owner, these changes could affect where development is encouraged, what land may be allocated and which planning requirements future proposals need to meet. Understanding emerging policy can therefore be particularly important if you are considering the longer-term potential of a site.
As the Central Lancashire Local Plan progresses, you can receive advice that considers both the policies affecting your site today and emerging changes that may influence it in future. This can help you make better-informed decisions about whether to develop, hold, sell or invest further in land and property.
What Planning Services Do We Offer?
We support homeowners, landowners, developers, and private clients with services including:
Whether you’re applying for planning permission in a conservation area or building on green belt land, you’ll receive advice based on both Chorley’s planning policies and the individual constraints affecting your property or site.
There are many benefits to using a planning consultant and our team have put their heads together to come up with what we believe are the main benefits. Some of which are:
Over the years we have worked on all types of planning projects for clients in and around the Chorley area. We are passionate about what we do and believe in working closely with our clients to achieve their goal. With many happy clients and successful projects, we believe some of the reasons you should choose us are:
A planning consultant is someone who can help with applying for planning, appeals and much more. Our expertise means we can help you to navigate the council and planning committee. This can help you understand which planning policies affect your proposal, what information you need and what steps you can take to give your application the strongest reasonable basis.
Many people choose to use planning consultants as it can help to take away unnecessary stresses and make the whole planning process run smoother. You may find professional advice particularly useful if your property is within the Green Belt or open countryside, affects a listed building or conservation area, has a complicated planning history or requires negotiations with the council.
As planning consultants, we can help with a number of things such as applications, appeals, impact and feasibility studies, research and rural planning. For you, that can mean understanding your site’s development potential, having application documents coordinated, obtaining the right specialist input and having communication with the local authority managed throughout the process.
Whenever a planning application is submitted, there will typically be a fee involved. Your overall costs will depend on the scale and complexity of the proposal and whether additional drawings, specialist reports, meetings or negotiations are required.
A clear scope of work and transparent fees can help you understand these costs at the beginning and reduce the risk of unexpected consultancy charges as your project progresses.
Not every development requires a full planning application. Establishing whether permitted development rights apply could provide you with a simpler route, although these rights can be restricted and listed buildings can require separate consent.
Planning permission will commonly require you to begin development within three years of the date permission is granted, although the actual deadline will be set by the conditions on your individual decision notice. Checking this early can help you avoid allowing a permission to expire unintentionally.
Potentially. The options available to you depend on the type of development, the site, and the applicable policies. Some proposals may not be considered inappropriate Green Belt development, while others may require very special circumstances. Reviewing the site first can help you determine whether your proposed plan has a realistic path forward before you invest further.
Potentially, although development in open countryside can be more tightly controlled than development within established settlements. An appraisal can help you understand how the proposed use, landscape impact, access, site designation and local planning policies affect your options before you commit significant resources to the scheme.
If you want to change a C3 dwellinghouse to a small C4 HMO, planning permission is required because Chorley Council has removed the normal permitted development right through an Article 4 direction. Checking this at an early stage can help you understand both the planning and wider regulatory requirements before purchasing or converting a property.
Chorley is working with Preston and South Ribble on the Central Lancashire Local Plan 2023–2041. If you own land or are considering a longer-term development opportunity, emerging policies and proposed allocations could affect its future potential. Keeping these changes under review can help you make more informed decisions about your site.
Yes. Your property may be affected by planning conditions or an Article 4 direction that removes rights normally available elsewhere. Checking the planning history first can prevent you from carrying out work on the assumption that planning permission is not required.
Yes. If your application has been refused, you can have the reasons reviewed before deciding what to do next. This can help you choose between amending and resubmitting the application, negotiating further with the council or pursuing an appeal rather than automatically committing to one course of action.
Yes. If your property is listed or located within a conservation area, you can receive advice on the additional planning and heritage requirements affecting your proposals, including whether listed building consent is needed and how the design may need to respond to the character or significance of the property and surrounding area.
We work with clients across all types of property development, including:
From initial plans to final submission, you’ll have a clearer understanding of the constraints affecting your site, the approvals you need and the steps available to make the most of its development potential.
For local planning consultants in Chorley, contact MPD Built Environment Consultants. We offer full support for planning submissions, appeals, and design advice, helping to make the process smooth and straightforward. All our services are designed to make the planning process as stress-free as possible, so don’t delay and contact our team now.
We’re familiar with Chorley Borough Council’s policies and planning frameworks, helping you understand what those requirements mean for your individual proposal rather than leaving you to navigate them alone.
With the Central Lancashire Local Plan progressing, you can also understand how emerging planning policies may affect the future of your property or land. Whether you’re considering a home improvement, rural development, Green Belt or open countryside site, listed building or longer-term land opportunity, the aim is to give you the information you need to make confident decisions about what to do next.
