Planning: advice notes and guidance

Introduction

We produce Planning Advice Notes (PANs) which provide advice on good practice and other relevant information. On 8 December 2025, as part of a review, a wide range of PANS and other guidance was withdrawn. As well as being listed below, the status of these withdrawn documents is shown in the titles.

We have a separate collection of planning circulars.

Planning guidance 2025

• Battery Energy Storage Systems: planning guidance
• Biodiversity: planning guidance
• Masterplan Consent Areas: guidance
• Housing Land Audit: guidance

Planning guidance 2024

• Effective community engagement in local development planning: guidance
• Local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods: planning guidance

Planning guidance 2023

• Digital telecommunications: planning guidance
• Play Sufficiency Assessment Regulations 2023: planning guidance

Planning advice notes (PANs)

Advice from the Chief Planner on planning issues.

• Planning Advice Note 33: Development of contaminated land
• Planning Advice Note 39: Farm and forestry buildings (withdrawn)
• Planning Advice Note 43: golf courses and associated developments (withdrawn)
• Planning Advice Note 47: community councils and planning: planning system review (withdrawn)
• Planning Advice Note 50: controlling the environmental effects of surface mineral workings
• Planning Advice Note 50: controlling the environmental effects of surface mineral workings (Annex A)
• Surface mineral workings: control of dust
• Surface mineral workings: control of traffic
• Surface mineral workings: control of blasting
• Planning Advice Note 51: planning, environmental protection and regulation (withdrawn)
• Panning Advice Note 52: Small towns (withdrawn)
• Planning Advice Note 55: Private finance initiatives (withdrawn)
• Planning Advice Note 59: Improving town centres (withdrawn)
• Planning Advice Note 60: natural heritage (withdrawn)
• Planning Advice Note 61: Sustainable urban drainage systems (withdrawn)
• Planning Advice Note 63: energy from waste (withdrawn)
• Planning Advice Note 64: reclamation of surface mineral workings (withdrawn)
• Planning advice note 65: planning and open space
• Planning Advice Note 66: trunk roads planning applications handling best practice guidance (withdrawn)
• Planning Advice Note 67: housing quality (withdrawn)
• Planning Advice Note 68: Design Statements (withdrawn)
• Flood risk: planning advice (withdrawn)
• Planning Advice Note 70: electronic planning service delivery (withdrawn)
• Data protection: planning guidance (withdrawn)
• Conservation area management: planning advice (withdrawn)
• Planning Advice Note 72: Housing in the countryside (withdrawn)
• Rural diversification: planning advice (withdrawn)
• Planning Advice Note 75: Planning for transport (withdrawn)
• Planning Advice Note 77: designing safer places (withdrawn)
• PAN 78: Planning and Building Standards Advice Note: Inclusive Design (withdrawn)
• Planning Advice Note 79: water and drainage (withdrawn)
• Planning Advice Note 80: control and management of fly-posting (withdrawn)
• Planning Advice Note 82: local authority interest developments (withdrawn)
• Planning Advice Note 83: master planning
• Planning Advice Note 1/2010: Strategic environmental assessment of development plans (withdrawn)
• Planning Advice Note 2/2010: Affordable housing and land audits (partly superseded)
• Planning Advice Note 3/2010: Community engagement (withdrawn)
• Planning Advice Note 1/2011: planning and noise
• Planning Advice Note 2/2011: Planning and archaeology (withdrawn)
• Planning Advice Note 1/2013: Environmental Impact Assessment
• Flood risk: planning advice (withdrawn)
• Onshore wind turbines: planning advice (withdrawn)
• Wind farm developments on peat land: planning advice (withdrawn)
• Hydro schemes: planning advice (withdrawn)
• Woody biomass: planning advice (withdrawn)
• Landfill gas: planning advice (withdrawn)
• Anaerobic digestion: planning advice (withdrawn)
• Deep geothermal: planning advice (withdrawn)
• Large photovoltaic arrays: planning advice (withdrawn)
• Energy storage: planning advice (withdrawn)
• Microgeneration: planning advice (withdrawn)
• Wind energy bids assessment
• Heat demands: planning advice (withdrawn)
• Planning and waste management advice

Renewables planning advice (withdrawn)

The advice below has now been withdrawn. National Planning Framework 4 contains policy on the delivery of renewable energy.

• Onshore wind turbines: planning advice (withdrawn)
• Wind farm developments on peat land: planning advice (withdrawn)
• Hydro schemes: planning advice (withdrawn)
• Woody biomass: planning advice (withdrawn)
• Landfill gas: planning advice (withdrawn)
• Planning Advice Note 63: energy from waste (withdrawn)
• Anaerobic digestion: planning advice (withdrawn)
• Deep geothermal: planning advice (withdrawn)
• Large photovoltaic arrays: planning advice (withdrawn)
• Energy storage: planning advice (withdrawn)
• Microgeneration: planning advice (withdrawn)
• Heat demands: planning advice (withdrawn)