Development management service – Duty Planner

We offer a Duty Planning Service which is available by telephone between 10am and 12.30pm Tuesday and Thursday only. Please call 01387 260199. 

You will be asked to provide information about the nature of your enquiry along with your name, contact details and full address of the site to the support staff receiving your telephone call. The Duty Planner will not be available outside of these times. A limited service is available and it best to contact us with your enquiry by submitting a permitted development enquiry.

A pre-booked appointment can be made with a Duty Planner. Each booking is limited to 15 minutes. To book an appointment, please:

Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 01387 260199

To ensure your enquiry fits the criteria for this service, you will be asked to provide a brief summary of your enquiry along with your name, contact details and the full address of the site. 

An officer will then contact you in the first instance to discuss your enquiry before an in-person appointment is arranged. A Duty Planner will not be available to be seen at the Council’s reception without a pre-arranged appointment. 

Please note that this service is not suitable for project specific advice such as the likelihood of your development scheme gaining planning permission. If you require project specific advice, you should consider our formal pre-application service. 

The duty service is aimed at the general public, homeowners and occupiers. It is not a service for professional agents or developers. These parties are required to apply for advice via our pre-application chargeable service. 

As the advice being provided by this service is general advice and you may require assistance on more than one occasion, the Duty Planner will not usually provide their name and will refer to themselves as the Duty Planner. This ensures your call will be directed to Duty Planner if you contact the service again seeking general advice. 

Areas where we offer informal advice

The Duty Planner will be able to provide informal advice on these areas.

Permitted Development (for householders only)

This is not intended as a review of whether or not a scheme is permitted development but will advise on Dumfries and Galloways Council’s interpretation of the General Permitted Development Order and what can be built without the need to apply formally for planning permission. If you wish confirmation of whether a development / change of use is permitted development a more appropriate route would be to go through the pre-application advice service or submit an application for a Lawful Development Certificate. The intention is to explain how the Council interpret and apply the permitted development categories and guidance. We will not advise on individual properties but give general guidance. 

Pre-submission validation check

This will cover whether you have provided the correct documentation to make sure that your application can be assessed and determined within relevant timescales (for householder and minor applications only). Please note that this validation check does not include a review of the content or quality of the documentation but is meant to capture whether or not the correct documentation will accompany the application. For example, have sufficient drawings been provided to enable validation? Do the drawings provide sufficient information to assess the proposal? 

Explain planning procedures

Including consultation, publicity and decision-making processes once an application is submitted. 

Assist you with understanding what a current application is proposing and the type of application

If you have queries regarding a current application or appeal, you should contact the relevant case officer directly. 

General queries on planning policy

Including interpretation and application (Householder and Minor development only). 

Services we do not offer

The Duty Planner will not: 

• provide an opinion on whether planning permission may or may not be supported by officers (this would be chargeable pre-application advice)
• discuss enquiries relating to current applications or appeals (you will need to contact the case officer)
• discuss the technical merits (principle, design, submitted reports, consultee responses, neighbour comments) of any applications, refusals or appeals
• discuss enforcement enquiries (new enforcement complaints should be submitted by email to [email protected])
• discharge any planning conditions on a decision notice
• determine requests for specific non-material amendments (you will need to submit a request for a non-material amendment)
• carry out searches; such as whether Permitted Development Rights exist for properties, planning history of sites
• answer questions or offer advice on national and local planning policy and processes except for where these may be related to householder applications (extensions, alterations, and outbuildings to residential premises)

Any planning advice provided by officers of the Council to members of the public, either verbally or in writing, in the course of their duties is offered in good faith and is based on the information and evidence provided to them at the time. Such views are the personal opinion of that officer and are not a formal decision of, nor binding on, the Council. 

We will: 

• always be courteous, polite and helpful
• deal with all customers equally and fairly regardless of race, gender, age, ability, sexuality or religion
• answer all telephone calls as soon as possible

What can you do to help us: 

• provide full information about the nature of your call to support staff receiving your telephone call
• please be patient as there are times when we are exceptionally busy / short staffed
• treat the duty planner respectfully, noting that we will not tolerate abusive or aggressive behaviour

How to contact us 

Email: [email protected] 
Telephone: 01387 260199