Advice on a proposal before a planning application is made is called 'pre-application advice'. If you would like pre-application advice, there are two ways to request it.

1. You can write to us or email us and we will give you a written response to your questions. You must give us as much detail as possible about the work you would like to do, including drawings and photos, with relevant notes and measurements.
   
   If you address your letter or email to Planning Enquiries, it will be registered by our admin team and then passed to a planning officer for a response.  The officer will aim to send you a response within 10 working days.  However, for more complex issues, this may not be possible.  In these situations we will contact you to explain the delay and tell you when you will receive your response.
   
   
2. You can write to us or email us to request a pre-application meeting with a planning officer. In this letter or email, you must give as much detail as possible about the work you would like to do, including drawings and photos, with relevant notes and measurements.
   
   If the officer agrees that a pre-application meeting would be appropriate, they will contact you to arrange a date.  Meetings will generally be held in our offices.  It would be helpful if you sent plans to us seven days in advance of any meeting.  This will allow an officer to consider your proposal and if necessary, discuss it with colleagues.
   
   At the meeting, the officer will talk to you about: national, regional and local planning policies that are relevant to your proposal and the site; any planning restrictions or conditions relevant to the site; what an officer will be looking for when considering your application; and any general advice on making your application including the plans and documents you will need to submit.
   
   Whilst officers will be able to indicate whether the principle of development is acceptable with regard to national, regional and local planning policies, applicants should note that:
   
   
   
   • The officer who gives you pre-application advice - either in writing or at a meeting - will not necessarily be the one dealing with your application when it is submitted.
     
   • Final determination of the proposal also needs to take into account the results of a site visit, or consultation responses, or other relevant planning considerations. This may result in a change of officer recommendation.
     
   • Officers make recommendations on applications. It is the Head of Planning Services or the Planning Committee who make the final decision on an application.

Planning Enquiries
Planning Services
Guildford Borough Council
Millmead
Guildford
GU2 4BB

Tel: 01483 444609
Email: planningenquiries@guildford.gov.uk