Straight answers.
Transport and planning, explained for developers, architects, planning consultants and agents. Short reads, no jargon.
What “severe” really means in the NPPF.
The one word that decides whether a council can refuse on highways grounds, and why most objections never get near it.
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Guide · 5 min read
Transport Statement or Transport Assessment? How to tell
The thresholds, the grey areas, and how to agree the right one before you spend.
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Advice · 4 min read
Five things highways officers look for at pre-app
Get these right early and the formal consultation tends to go far more smoothly.
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Explainer · 4 min read
Visibility splays explained in plain English
What the numbers mean, where they come from, and when they can flex.
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For architects · 4 min read
Five transport checks to make before you fix a layout
Visibility, parking, bin lorries, fire access and gradients: the things that cause late redesigns.
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Advice · 3 min read
Highways objection on your application? What to do next
Most objections can be answered. How to read the response and what a good reply looks like.
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EV charging · 5 min read
EV charging hubs: how many trips are really new?
Why most visits are already on the road, and how to evidence it.
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Small sites · 4 min read
Does a new dropped kerb need planning permission?
Two separate consents, the roads where the rules change, and why some driveways get refused.
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Small sites · 5 min read
Building a house in your garden: the access questions to answer first
Width, visibility, bins, fire engines and the neighbours. The transport issues that decide most backland and infill schemes.
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Explainer · 4 min read
Visibility over land you don’t own
Verges, hedges, the highway boundary and ransom strips: why visibility splays can stall a small site, and what to do about it.
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Small sites · 5 min read
Transport for a 9-home scheme: what the council actually needs
Why most small housing schemes need a short note, not a thick report, and what that note must cover.
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For architects · 4 min read
The 30, 25 and 45 metre rules: bins and fire engines on small layouts
The Building Regulations distances that catch architects out late, and how to design them in from the first sketch.
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Small sites · 5 min read
Fewer parking spaces than the standard: when it’s acceptable
Local standards are a starting point. The location, car ownership data and on-street conditions decide whether less parking works.
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Guide · 6 min read
Getting credit for the existing use: the fallback argument
Why the traffic a site already generates, or lawfully could, should be the starting point for judging a new scheme.
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Explainer · 4 min read
HMOs and flat conversions: parking stress surveys explained
When councils ask for one, how the survey works, and what the 85% figure really means.
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Rural · 4 min read
Barn conversions: getting the access right under Class Q
Transport and highways impacts are one of the few matters the council can consider. Lanes, visibility and passing places decide most cases.
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Commercial · 4 min read
Small business units: servicing, deliveries and vehicle size
Designing yards and accesses for the vehicles that will actually use them, not the biggest lorry in the book.
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Commercial · 4 min read
Cafés, takeaways and drive-thrus: what worries highways officers
Parking, delivery riders, queues and passing trade: the issues to answer for food and drink schemes.
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Rural · 4 min read
Holiday lets and glamping: will the lane be a problem?
Rural access, trip numbers and changeover days. How to answer the questions councils ask about tourism schemes on country lanes.
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For developers · 4 min read
Should you get transport advice before you buy a site?
A short appraisal of access and transport risks costs a fraction of finding the problem after exchange.
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Advice · 4 min read
Is pre-app worth paying for on a small scheme?
An honest answer on when highways pre-application advice is worth the fee, and when it isn’t.
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Explainer · 5 min read
A new footway or dropped kerb outside your site: what Section 278 really involves
Fees, bonds, approvals and timescales for highway works on small schemes, explained plainly.
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Guide · 5 min read
Refused on highways grounds? What inspectors look for on small schemes
How highways reasons for refusal are tested at appeal, and the evidence that wins and loses.
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Articles are general information, not advice on a specific site. For advice on your scheme, send us the site.
Statement or Assessment? Know before you spend.
The thresholds councils use, what pushes a scheme up a level, and how to avoid over-scoping.