Planning application validation requirements

Find out what supporting plans and documents are needed before we can accept your planning application.

Important advice for applicants and agents

To prevent delays in processing your application make sure you include all the necessary information and submit the validation checklist with your application. Our local list of validation requirements explains what you will need to send to us.

Planning application requirements

Each planning application requires a set of supporting plans and documents before we can start working on your application. When we receive your application, it will go through a validation process to check that all the required information has been provided in line with our local list of validation requirements.

We aim to check your application within 5 working days of receipt, and if there are missing plans and documents etc, then we will notify you or your agent to explain why and what additional information is required.

Following this, you will have 3 months to submit the required information.

Supporting plans and documents

Download the planning application validation requirements and associated documents:

1. Local list of validation requirements (pdf 360KB)
2. Validation checklist (docx 19KB) / Validation checklist (pdf 156KB)
3. EFSAC Guidance Note (pdf 115KB)
4. Consent form to pay council related costs (pdf 159KB)
5. Commercial kitchen ventilation guidance note and risk assessment (pdf 244KB)/ Commercial kitchen ventilation guidance note and risk assessment (docx 42KB)
6. Refuse and recycling guidance note (pdf 990KB)
7. EFDC sustainability guidance volume 1 major developments (pdf 15MB)
8. EFDC sustainability guidance volume 2 minor developments (pdf 7MB)
9. Sustainability guidance volume 3 householder developments
10. Harlow and Gilston Garden Town Vision document (pdf 17MB)
11. Harlow and Gilston Garden Town Design Guide document (pdf 17MB)
12. Harlow & Gilston Garden Town Sustainability Guidance (pdf 2MB)

Please review our Development Management service charter for more information on what to expect from our Planning Service.