Planning considerations & satellite dishes

planningIf you are thinking of making alterations to your property or submitting a planning application, you should consider the following:-

A) The East Dean & Friston Village Design Statement, which governs the type of developments that would fit our neighbourhood. Refer to the Village Design Statement page. 

B) Material Considerations

The SDNP are only allowed to take material planning considerations into account when considering comments. There are many material considerations but the most common include:-

  • Loss of light/overshadowing
  • Overlooking/loss of privacy
  • Visual amenity (but not loss of view)
  • Adequacy of parking/loading/turning
  • Highway safety / Traffic generation / Road access
  • Smells, Noise and disturbance resulting from use
  • Hazardous materials
  • Loss of trees
  • Effect on listed building and conservation area
  • Layout and density of building
  • Design, appearance and materials
  • Landscaping
  • Local, strategic, regional and national planning policies,
  • Proposals in the Development Plan
  • Government circulars, orders and statutory instruments
  • Disabled persons’ accessibility
  • Compensation and awards of costs against the Council at public enquiries
  • Previous planning / appeal decisions
  • Nature conservation
  • Archaeology

The following are NOT considered to be valid planning concerns:-

  • Affect on property value
  • The loss of view
  • The impact of construction work or competition between firms
  • Restrictive covenants
  • Boundary, access matters or ownerships disputes
  • Personal moral issues or opinion of the applicant

C) Planning Portal is a user friendly website which provides guidance and advice on planning matters. The Portal is the online planning and building regulations resource for England and Wales and includes helpful interactive guides.

D) South Downs National Park Planning section contains a number of helpful pages including "Do I need Planning Permission?", "Planning Advice", and "Making a Planning Application".

Installation of Satellite Dishes

dishUnder the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 (as amended), you have a general permission to install antennas [this includes satellite dishes] up to a specific size on property without the need for planning permission. This general permission depends on your house type and area.

If your house (or the building in which you live) is in a designated area [National Park or Conservation Area], you do not need to apply for planning permission to install an antenna on your property, as long as:

  • there will be no more than two antennas on the property overall;
  • an antenna is not installed on a chimney, wall, or a roof slope which faces onto, and is visible from, a road.

For nearly all properties this means that it should be possible to install a satellite dish unobtrusively without the need for planning permission. Dish installers should be made aware, when a property is in a conservation area, so that they do not install the dish in an inappropriate position (eg not at the front of the house or above the roof line).

(Note: the Conservation Area in East Dean is south of the A259 and is shown enclosed by black dotted lines on the maps in the Village Design Statement - pages 11 and 31).

More specifically, advice from the South Downs National Park Authority states that planning permission will be required for satellite dishes on residential properties if:-

  • The dish would be located on a chimney, wall or roof slope which faces onto, and is visible from, a highway
  • The dish would be located on a building which exceeds 15 metres in height
  • More than 2 dishes or antenna would be installed on the building or its curtilage in total
  • The dish would exceed 1 metre in length in any linear dimension
  • The dish would be installed on a chimney and exceed 0.6 metres in length in any linear dimension
  • The dish would be installed on a chimney and protrude above the top of the chimney
  • The dish would have a cubic capacity exceeding 35 litres
  • Where a dish would be installed on a roof without a chimney, the highest part of the dish would be higher than the highest part of the roof
  • Where a dish would be installed on a roof with a chimney, the highest part of the dish would be higher than the highest part of the chimney, or 0.6 metres measured from the highest part of the ridge tiles of the roof, whichever is the lower

In addition to the above, any dish which is installed must comply with the following:-

  • A. So far as practicable, any dish must be sited so as to minimise its effect on the external appearance of the building; and
  • B. When the dish is no longer needed, it is removed as soon as reasonably practicable.