On 3 December 2015 the Planning Committee approved a new Customer Service Charter for Planning and Building Standards. This sets out the level of service you should expect from us and out how we will handle general enquiries.
As part of this, from Monday 14 December 2015, the helpdesk service we provide will change with the new opening times of 9:00am – 1:00pm Monday to Friday.
Our general reception area will still be open from 8:30am – 5:00pm Monday to Friday, if you want to come in to view plans using the PC terminals, submit applications or a comment on an application. The helpdesk will be closed over the Christmas and New Year period, reopening on 5 January 2016.
We’re making these changes for a number of reasons including the Council’s ‘channel shift’ process which encourages the greater use of online information and transactions. Making this change also gives planning and building standards officers more time to deal with applications.
Save time. Do it online
To support this change there are already a number of ways you can get planning and building standards information. This includes:
- Viewing and commenting on applications
- Applying for planning permission
- Applying for a building warrant (works less than £70,000 in value)
- Checking if you live in a listed building or conservation area
- Checking if a tree is a protected and if necessary apply for work
- Reading planning policies and guidance before applying
- Checking if work has permission
- Reporting work that may not have permission
- Asking for pre-application advice for larger, more complex cases, unusual or contentious cases
More improvements to come
Right now we’re working to improve our online information, making it easier for you to get the advice and guidance you need. This will include using more online maps for mobile devices, improving public access (the planning portal) by improving its functionality and making it work better on mobile devices.
Next year we’ll also see the launch of eDevelopment.scot the new single landing page where users can access ePlanning and eBuilding Standards for the submission of applications.
Planning Edinburgh 
Will I still be able to submit hand drawn paper drawings with planning and building warrant applications? As an architect with 50 years experience, I am not able to produce drawings in CAD, and to do so I have to pay someone else, therefore my professional fees would simply not be competitive. And we must all do what we can to reduce unnecessary costs.
Would welcome your views on this point, that is very important to me, particularly at my age.
Thank you.
Hi Rod, thanks for the comment. We’ll still be accepting hand drawn paper-based applications for the foreseeable future. However, we would encourage the use of ePlanning to submit applications. Drawings don’t have to be produced using CAD as long as they are to a suitable scale. When using ePlanning these can be scanned in and submitted as part of the online application.
Many thanks for the encouraging words. How can I scan paper drawings, or do you mean that I can still send in paper copies and that you would scan them? I have a job in London and they don’t accept paper drawings but do accept a disc with the drawings on it, that I post to them.
Rod
Hi Rod, you would have to use a scanner to scan in paper drawings. If you did this it would mean you could submit applications using ePlanning and don’t need to use discs. If you send us paper copies we will scan them in here which takes a bit more time.
That’s good. Yes, currently with paperwork I scan documents and parts of drawings on my iPhone then email them to recipients. Generally works well. Thanks again for your comments, most useful.
And have a great time at Christmas, whoever you are!