Wahoo - planning application is officially submitted! Before it gets looked at properly by the planning officers it needs to be validated - checked to see if we have submitted everything required in exactly the right format. I have tried really hard to make sure we have done everything correctly, but I've found it hard to know in advance exactly what all the information specifications are. I highly recommend anyone applying for planning permission to start filling in the forms online (at www.planningportal.gov.uk) ahead of time - partly because it's time consuming, and partly because other requirements are made apparent as you go. For example, we need to cut down one non-native tree which has been planted far too close to the existing bungalow: it's not enough to just mark this on the plans with a note that it needs to be removed, you have to label it and any other affected trees T1, T2 etc, and list this reference and the reference number of the plan that shows it in the right box on the planning application forms...
Other information about the required format of plans is more straightforwardly available, to be fair. It's just important to make sure you follow the guidelines strictly (it's hard to know how accurate they are but there are plenty of stories on the web of applications failing to be validated due to minor technicalities).
But anyway, it's in, fingers crossed/touch wood it'll be validated, then we wait to see what the planners think. They said at my last meeting with them that they'd probably need to make a site visit, so I guess that's the next thing in line.
Until there's more to report, here's some artists impressions of our proposals, exported from my Google Sketchup models (click the images for a larger version):
North/front elevation
South/rear elevation
West elevation (the extension)
East elevation
