Pre-Application Submissions For New Glamping Sites

Make Sure You’re On The Right Track With Our Pre-Application Submission Service.

100 +

Glamping Sites Created

1600 +

Feasibility Studies Delivered

220 +

UK & Ireland Councils Assessed

Tailored Planning Advice

If you want to set up a new glamping site, you’ll probably need to get planning permission from your local authority. Unfortunately, this process can be long and convoluted, which is why most councils now offer pre-application planning advice to prospective site owners.

Rather than wasting time and money on an application that won’t cut the mustard, we send them some detailed drawings, a Design and Access Statement, along with any other documents relevant to development at your particular site, and they offer tailored advice that’s designed to highlight any potential problems with your plan.

We can help you prepare documents and plans for a pre-application submission – and implement your local planning authority’s recommendations when they feed back on your proposal, maximising your chances of obtaining full planning permission at the next stage of the process.

The Smart Way To Start Your Journey

Submit your initial plans and drawings.
Get feedback from your local planning authority.
Update your planning application to increase your chances of success.
Saves time and money.

There’s never been a better time to launch your glamping business. Industry reports show that demand for luxury staycations has exploded over the last two years, and the potential ROI from a well-planned site is huge.

In fact, successful glamping sites normally pay for themselves in two to three years and often outperform more traditional investments – like buy-to-let residential properties or commercial real estate.

But if you’re looking to set up a brand new site, there are a few hurdles that you’ll probably need to clear. You’ll need to connect water, gas, electricity and other amenities to your land, pull together a business plan and get permission from your local planning authority.

Unfortunately, this is where a lot of people get stuck. Obtaining planning permission can be a long and arduous process.

Documents have to be drawn up, submitted and reviewed, plans have to be passed on to relevant Environmental Health Authorities and other governing bodies, local residents have to be given a chance to object to your proposals and local planning officers have to decide whether or not they think your development will have a net positive impact on the surrounding area.

To help you head off potential issues before they arise, most local councils allow you to make a pre-application submission for feedback This is where one or more planning officers will look over your drawings, and offer advice based on your local planning regulations.

Pre-Empt Planning Problems

We often see pre-application feedback that highlights unanticipated problems with drainage or access, noise or light pollution. But the value of pre-application feedback often extends beyond the obvious.

As well as getting actionable insight from your local planning authority, you’ll be building a rapport with the people who’ll be responsible for deciding the fate of your final application, and there’s no question that taking the time to file a pre-application submission often helps to demonstrate engagement with the planning process.

We use a simple, four step process to speed up the pre-planning phase of your project:

Preparing Your Documents

Preparing plans & drawings.
Writing a covering statement.
Providing supporting evidence.

To get detailed feedback from your local planning authority, you’ll need to submit a set of professional drawings showing the proposed layout of your site, drainage and access plans and buildings you plan to construct.

The quality of the advice you’ll receive is dependent on the quality of the documents you submit, which is why it pays to have our professional planning consultants work on the documents for you.

Submitting Your Application

Documents & plans are sent to your local planning office.
Planning officers review your documents.
May cost a nominal fee.

Unlike the formal planning application process, there’s no set structure for pre-planning reviews. Local planning authorities are free to set their own rules and best-practices vary from location to location.

That said, most planning authorities charge a small fee to cover the cost of a planning officer’s time. Given the quality of feedback provided, we think this fee is (almost) always a sound investment and we generally see feedback returned in good time. In short, it’s a very worthwhile process and one we’d strongly advise prospective glamping site owners with relevant planning concerns or potential roadblocks to development to consider.

Receiving & Analysing Feedback

You’ll receive feedback from your local authority.
We’ll help you work out what’s important.
You’ll have a clear understanding of any potential problems.

The feedback delivered by your local planning office should be quite straightforward; planning officers generally focus on 15 set areas, including things like potential noise pollution, problems with drainage, access rights or the ecological impact of your proposal.

We’ll help you weed through their recommendations and pick out the important points so that you can update your plans accordingly.

Implementing Feedback

Recommendations used to amend your plans.
Pre-emptive measures discussed.
Improves your chances of obtaining planning permission.

Obtaining planning permission is a long and arduous process. Doubly so for applications that fail and have to be re-submitted at a later date. One of the key benefits of the pre-application process is that it helps you avoid or pre-empt some of the issues that could stall your project.

But your local planning authority won’t tell you how to avoid issues. Instead, they’ll point to potential problems and we’ll help you find a workable solution that can be fed through to your final planning documents.

Not Ready To Submit A Pre-Planning Application?

Starting your own glamping business can be confusing: You’ve got to design your site, find pods, pull together a business plan and get planning permission on land that’s probably defined as agricultural or recreational property.

If you’re not ready to start thinking about a pre-planning application and you’d like a bit of support with the earlier stages of the planning process, you might be interested in a feasibility study, where you’ll work with our glamping experts to develop and refine your vision.

Expert Help For Prospective Owners

Setting up a glamping site can be incredibly intimidating. We should know; both of our founders cut their teeth setting up the NC500 Pods site on the North coast of Scotland, and that process forced them to become intimately familiar with the ins and outs of the glamping site planning process.

The good news is that you don’t have to go it alone. Drawing on our own experience, we’ve helped hundreds of glamping businesses file pre-planning submissions and obtain full planning permission for their sites. The two processes aren’t always connected, but we think there are many situations where it definitely helps to start with a pre-planning application.

After all, most planning application forms specifically ask if you’ve sought advice prior to filing your application and it always helps to be able to say yes!

Ready To File Your Pre-Application Submission?

Get in touch using the form below.