Guidance

Pre-application planning and technical advice for proposals within the Development High Risk Area on the coalfield

Updated 26 May 2023

If you are considering submitting a planning application for development in the Coal Authority’s defined Development High Risk Area, or a permit application to investigate or remediate coal mining features, the Coal Authority’s pre-application advice service can help you to ensure that your proposals have appropriate regard for associated risks, and that your supporting documentation meets the required standard.

If you are in doubt about whether your site lies within the Development High Risk Area, then please contact us for confirmation.

The developer is responsible for ensuring that a development is safe and stable, but the Coal Authority’s pre-application advice service enables you to ensure that appropriate considerations of the risks posed by coal mining legacy are made from the outset on any project.

This can significantly reduce the risk of delays and unanticipated costs in the determination of planning applications and the overall development process.

1. What we need to know – information requirements

We appreciate that some of the information below may not be available at the time of pre-application discussions, but we do require a minimum level of information to enable us to deliver quality advice and guidance.

Such information includes:

• relevant contact details
• site address, including postcode where available
• an Ordnance Survey based location plan to an appropriate scale showing the boundary of the site within its local context
• a site plan showing the layout of the proposed development within the context of the site boundary, if a specific or indicative layout is proposed
• a copy of any Coal Mining Risk Assessment or any related ground investigation report that may have already been prepared
• details of any ground investigations or mitigation or remedial measures that may be proposed, see Coal Authority Technical Guidance Note TGN02/2021 for Designer’s submissions seeking engineering appraisal
• the application reference number and the name of the relevant local planning authority, if your enquiry relates to an earlier planning permission or current planning application
• a copy of the relevant decision notice and any specific conditions, if your enquiry relates to the discharge of planning conditions

The more relevant information that you are able to provide at the outset will help us to provide a more robust response.

Should an enquiry be received which clearly represents a follow-up to previous pre-application advice issued by the Coal Authority, the level of information required for us to undertake the additional work is likely to be less than that required for an entirely new enquiry, on the basis that specific details are likely to have already been provided.

The Coal Authority’s pre-application advice service is intended to provide guidance on coal mining legacy features and the related land use and development policies of the Coal Authority.

We cannot comment on other planning and development matters, for which customers should seek further advice from the relevant local planning authority.

2. How our service will help you

We can provide a broad range of services in relation to pre-application enquiries, including:

• document review, including consideration of the adequacy of draft Coal Mining Risk Assessments and site investigation reports
• advising on site layouts that either eliminate or minimise the risks posed by recorded coal mining features
• appraising proposed remedial measures and design solutions
• confirmation of the acceptability of proposals, in respect of the implications of coal mining features for ground stability and public safety, in the context of us being consulted on a planning application made on a similar basis advising on the need for Coal Authority permits in relation to the investigation and remediation of coal mining features

Our response will normally take the form of written advice which will be sent by email. However, if you require advice in a different form, such as discussion at a meeting, then please let us know.

Please note that we do not provide a design service and will not take on the role of designer as defined under the Construction Design Management regulations.

3. The timescales of the pre-application service

When we receive initial email enquiries, we will seek to acknowledge receipt by return of email within 2 working days.

We will then strive to indicate one of the following:

• advise of the fee for the requested advice, if subject to a standard fee
• indicate if a bespoke fee proposal will be issued
• request additional information to enable the formulation of a bespoke fee proposal
• advise that we are not able to provide advice in the context of the enquiry and explain why

Where a bespoke fee proposal is required in response to the enquiry, this will normally be issued to you within 7 working days of receipt of all relevant information necessary to calculate the fee.

We will advise you in a timely manner if more information is required.

If on the basis of our fee proposal, you give us an instruction to proceed, we will seek to register the instruction within 2 working days of confirmation of receipt of payment.

We will seek to issue responses to requests for written advice to the customer within 15-21 days of confirmation of receipt of payment unless the request is for:

• an expedited response, whereby a timescale within 14 days will be negotiated
• where the views of the Coal Authority are required as to whether a Coal Mining Risk Assessment is required for a specific scheme of development, whereby the advice will normally be issued within 7 days of confirmation of receipt of payment

Timescales for the issuing of written advice may be varied subject to timely agreement in writing between the Coal Authority and the customer, for example where additional background information is required to enable a full response.

4. Fees for the pre-application advice service

The pre-application advice service is charged on a cost-recovery basis. All such costs are based on current Coal Authority charge-out rates.

The exact cost of pre-application advice will be dependent on the amount of input and level of expertise required from staff in the pre-application advice team, which will be influenced by a number of factors such as the relative complexity of coal mining features present on the site, the scale and nature of the development proposed and the nature of your enquiry.

Our fee proposals are also subject to a proportionate management fee to cover the overheads of providing the pre-application advice service.

Fee proposals will remain valid for 3 months from the date of issue.

5. Additional charges

Any expenses additional to the costs of staff time, for example essential travel costs will be charged and accordingly included within the fee proposal.

If an expedited response is required, for example written advice within a shorter timeframe than the usual 15-21 working days, or a meeting within 14 days of payment being made, it may be possible for us to meet such requirements.

Where we are able to agree an expedited service, the fee will be twice what we would normally charge.

If you request consideration of additional information during the course of our completion of an instruction, then we reserve the right to review the fee proposal to cover additional costs.

6. Payment

Before we proceed with the provision of advice, we will confirm our fees and what we intend to provide in response to your enquiry.

You will be required to complete and return a pro-forma invoice which will be issued with our fee-proposal. The provision of pre-application advice will only proceed once funds for the invoice have been received.

In some exceptional cases, where sites have particularly complex coal mining legacy, it may not be possible to confirm the exact fees at the outset.

If this is the case, subject to it being agreed, an initial fee of £500+VAT will be charged. When this paid, the provision of advice will commence.

If it becomes apparent that costs are likely to exceed the sum paid, then we will contact you in a timely manner, either to confirm an exact fee proposal for the outstanding work required, or where uncertainty remains, to request a further payment of £500+VAT.

The only exception to payment at the outset will be for customers who have an account with the Coal Authority. If such customers submit a purchase order with their confirmation of instruction, this will be construed as payment for the requested service. Please note however, that the terms and conditions set out in this document will continue to apply, notwithstanding any that may be set out in the customer’s purchase order.

7. Terms of service

The Coal Authority provides the pre-application advice service on the basis of the information given received. The customer takes full responsibility for the accuracy of this information.

In using the service, you agree that the Coal Authority will have no liability in relation to the advice it gives, which is given in good faith.

Whilst we will always seek to provide consistent advice, our professional views may change as new information becomes available or if the proposed development scheme is amended.

Similarly, if there are changes to national planning policy, or Coal Authority policies, this may have a bearing on our assessment. It is therefore important that you seek our advice on a timely basis.

All requests for pre-application advice will normally be handled confidentially between the Coal Authority and the customer. We will only discuss matters with third parties if instructed to do so. However, please note that whilst responses will usually be prepared by the Coal Authority’s planning team, we may need to discuss matters with other specialist teams within the Coal Authority.

The Coal Authority may also use any information submitted with a request for pre-application advice to update its records.

The pre-application advice service relates closely to our statutory and regulatory roles and is therefore managed and delivered independently of the Coal Authority’s commercial services to avoid any conflict of interest.

The following disclaimer will be included in our advice:

“Whilst we have made every attempt to ensure that the information contained in this response is based on our records, the Coal Authority is not responsible for any errors or omissions, or for the results obtained from the use of this information. All information is provided ‘as is’, with no guarantee of completeness, accuracy, timeliness or of the results obtained from the use of this information, and without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including, but not limited to warranties of performance, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event will the Coal Authority be liable to you or anyone else for any decision made or action taken in reliance on the information in this site or for any consequential, special or similar damages, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.”

Important information about the pre-application advice service

Use of the Pre-Application Advice service is at the customer’s discretion.

You are free to use the information that we provide to support any submission to a local planning authority, or for any other purpose.

Any advice given constitutes the professional opinion of the Coal Authority, but is given without prejudice to the determination of any planning application made to the local planning authority. No advice given can prejudge or guarantee how the local planning authority may decide any particular case. However, it is likely that if the Coal Authority were to be formally consulted in its statutory role in similar terms our formal response to the local planning authority will be similar to the pre-application advice that was provided.

No advice given by the Coal Authority will be valid and effective unless it is confirmed in writing by the Coal Authority.

The Coal Authority’s advice will be given as current on the date it is given. However, please note that as time passes, material circumstances may change and the validity of the advice given may change.

The Coal Authority reserves the right to review the fees chargeable at its discretion for any reason whatsoever.

8. Freedom of Information

We will treat a request for pre-application advice confidentially, but if the Coal 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 we are obliged to do so.

We can only withhold information under FOI or EIR if the information falls under one of the exemptions of FOI or exceptions for EIR set out in legislation. You will therefore need to confirm that the pre-application advice request is commercially sensitive if you which to mitigate this risk.

The Coal Authority maintains compliance to the Data Protection Act 2018 and will not release personal information to third parties.

Coal Authority pre-application advice service

Coal Authority
200 Lichfield Lane
Mansfield
Nottinghamshire
NG18 4RG

Email planningadvice@coal.gov.uk

Telephone 01623 637119