Writing a Planning Statement for a Rother application
A Planning Statement explains and justifies your proposal against the development plan. For schemes across Rother — Bexhill-on-Sea, Battle, Rye and Robertsbridge and the surrounding area — that means engaging Rother's own adopted policies on design, character and amenity, plus the NPPF. Buildwise auto-detects site constraints (High Weald National Landscape (AONB), conservation areas (Rye, Battle, Bexhill) and flood zones (Rye, Pevensey Levels)) from your postcode and writes each section tailored to your site and project type.
Cited to Rother's actual adopted plan
Buildwise references Rother's live policies directly — for example design, amenity and character policies such as EN3 (Design Quality), DHG9 (Extensions, Alterations and Outbuildings), DHG7 (External Residential Areas) — quoted from the source documents and verified, never invented. As Rother updates its plan, Buildwise's corpus is updated with it.
- Rother Local Plan Core Strategy (2014)
- Rother Development and Site Allocations (DaSA) Local Plan (2019)
How it works
Address + postcode; constraints detected automatically.
Usually under 10 minutes.
Download as PDF, edit online, or send to your client under your practice logo.
Example (excerpt)
"The single-storey design and restrained ridge height directly address scale and massing, ensuring compliance with Policy EN3 (Design Quality). Generous separation to the host dwelling with no new facing windows satisfies the amenity requirements engaged by Policy DHG9…"
Frequently asked questions
Usually not. Across the councils Buildwise covers, a planning statement is a validation requirement only for major applications — several councils do not list it at all, and one asks for it wherever the context and justification need demonstrating. For a householder or small-residential scheme it is optional. It is still the document that argues your scheme against Rother's adopted policies, which is where most refusals are decided — and where the statutory design and access content applies (major development, or a dwelling or 100m² of new floorspace inside a conservation area or World Heritage Site) Buildwise includes that section too.
Rother's adopted Rother Local Plan Core Strategy (2014) and Rother Development and Site Allocations (DaSA) Local Plan (2019) policies relevant to your scheme — such as EN3 (Design Quality), DHG9 (Extensions, Alterations and Outbuildings), DHG7 (External Residential Areas) — plus the NPPF.
Minutes, versus most of a working day by hand.
The permitted development check is free, for everyone, and signing up costs nothing. Planning statements are £95 each with no subscription; monthly plans start at £249.
Start your Rother Planning Statement.
The Permitted Development check is free — no card needed. Planning documents are £95 each, with your practice’s logo on every one.
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