Garden Office\Salon - guidence appreciated

[shabbaranks]

Hi,

Im looking to put a garden office yep in the garden it'll be used as a salon so it'll need water and waste etc. Ive never done an application for planning before and would really appreciate some help (who knows if your down this way you could get your hair cut!).

Although it wont be a permanent building as I understand it because it could increase traffic etc it could well require planning permission. What is the process - do I have to get plans drawn up to show what exactly I will be putting in place? What kind of info would they require? If anyone could hold my hand during this process it would be gratefully appreciated - thanks!!

 

[LukeB123]

It will require planning permission as a salon. You will need some drawings (to scale) showing the dimensions of the proposed building, fill in the full planning permission form (giving them details on opening hours / employees etc) and pay the fee, which will probably be £385.00 (although maybe more depending on the size of your building) You will probably need some type of site plan to show how it will work, in terms of parking etc.

I would speak with the local authority first to gain some insight as whether or not they would support it - at this initial stage I would guess not - however I know very few details.

 

[shabbaranks]

Thank you for this, why do you think that they wouldn't support it, just out of interest? I appreciate your going on little info. Is it because "potentially" there is chance of increasing traffic or generally councils oppose these types of ideas?

Thanks again

 

[shabbaranks]

Also out of curiosity would we have to state its going to be used as a salon rather than just stating that it will be an office which required running water and wastage. The only reason I ask this is because the area we live in is quite small I wouldn't want someone who she works with noticing there is a planning application submitted at the address for a salon - would potentially be tricky for her to work in the same place then.

 

[Nakajo]

Unless you can arrange an informal chat with a Duty Officer, do not speak to the Local Authority first (i.e. do not submit a Pre-App)

 

[shabbaranks]

Unless you can arrange an informal chat with a Duty Officer, do not speak to the Local Authority first (i.e. do not submit a Pre-App)

Could you elaborate on this please?

 

[Nakajo]

Thinking about it, I disagree that you will require planning permission. This is just a shed. You could move the stuff piled up in the spare bedroom into it and use the spare bedroom as your 'salon'. You would not require planning permission for that, so I cannot see why you'd need planning permission for a shed - unless it was larger than PD limits.

 

[shabbaranks]

Thinking about it, I disagree that you will require planning permission. This is just a shed. You could move the stuff piled up in the spare bedroom into it and use the spare bedroom as your 'salon'. You would not require planning permission for that, so I cannot see why you'd need planning permission for a shed - unless it was larger than PD limits.

Isnt it because we plan to use it as a business rather than just "another room" also the fact we will be adding water\sewage and electrics? It seems to be such a grey area as Ive looked online and some people say you do and others you don't. I appreciate its totally dependant on where you live and your local authorities. Just seems a bit of a mine field to which you have to pay to enter

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Whilst on paper there is, I don't think there's a simple answer here unfortunately, the technical answer would be to approach the Local Authority and ask their opinion as to whether or not they think you would need planning permission or not and in theory they would decide on the basis of whether they felt there were any relevant planning issues in terms of access, car parking and the like. But don't do that yet. If you were a car mechanic for example you can see there would be an issue for the neighbours/local area in terms of the impact of more cars, parking, rubbish disposal and noise etc. A hair salon is obviously pretty low impact in comparison. However unfortunately the planners are money grabbing thieves who will probably just say you need to apply for planning permission because they can.

As to whether permission would be granted or not we cannot answer though. Is parking an issue where you live? Do you have any off road parking spaces? How many victims would you expect to be able to cope with at once?

Lets say you lived in a road with no off road parking that was jammed full of commuters cars every day, lets say you had someone having their hair done and another waiting, that's at least two more cars.

Adding electric and water to an outbuilding is irrelevant, you don't need planning permission for that.

My opinion is that it would not be required but I would expect them to say it was.

If you ended up making an application you would be expected to provide the nature of the business. Otherwise how would the planners know how to deal with it?

As mentioned already, there's not many details to go on.

 

[Nakajo]

The point is, you don't need permission to build it. You may need permission subsequently to use it as a hair salon.

 

[shabbaranks]

The point is, you don't need permission to build it. You may need permission subsequently to use it as a hair salon.

Yeah this is exactly what I was thinking, so based on this for example - would I need to draw up plans? If the shed was already in situ and then we decided to convert it to a salon (basically by putting some chairs and mirrors in it) surely I wouldn't need to draw up dimensions etc of the building?

It all seems very confusing to quite a simple task

 

[Nakajo]

Plans for who/what?

 

[shabbaranks]

Well if I was going to go for planning to put the garden office in then obviously I would need to draw up plans of how the building would reside in the garden and submit them to the local planning authorities. By this I mean (and this is stated in a previous post #2) I would to show the actual dimensions of the unit what the opening hours would be etc etc.

If I am making a planning application just to open a salon in my garden do I ignore the whole dimensions and drawings side of things? Can I "pretend" the building is already in place as a shed and that my intention is to convert the shed into a salon - saving me the time and effort of getting the unit put into place only to find that they will grant me the application to put a shed in my garden but not to use it as a salon.

I really appreciate your input on this and apologies if I am missing anything obvious.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

You can't pretend to already have the building if you've not built it yet.

But if the building was actually already built and then you just went in for PP for the using as a salon bit then I don't think you'd need to submit a full set of a drawings just a site plan showing the outbuilding. Never done myself tbh.

Possibly interesting thread: http://www.salongeek.com/threads/converting-my-garage-to-a-home-salon.180488/

 

[shabbaranks]

Thanks that seems to kind of answer my question, I think what I'll do is phone the council and just state that I intend on using a garden office as a salon and go from there. It would also seem the main cause for concern is access which I don't think will be a problem as my neighbours to which it would effect are fine in fact they would probably support the venture - those that aren't deaf or slightly aged