Planning advice service
In line with Government guidelines and to adhere to social distancing, our planning duty service is now operating by email only.
You can email our duty officer at planning@oxford.gov.uk - please enter in the subject box ‘DUTY OFFICER ENQUIRY’.
The planning duty service responds to emails between 10am and 1pm, Monday to Friday.
Planning Duty Service
Our planning duty service gives quick, informal guidance about planning matters. This is principally a sign posting service to advise customers of what type of planning application they would need to submit. While planning officers may be able to answer queries, this service does not offer formal pre-application advice on development proposals or provide site specific advice.
Pre-application advice
Pre-application advice for customers is provided through meeting(s) and/or through a written response. Pre-application advice can be beneficial in helping to identify issues at an early stage which can make the process of applying for planning permission more streamlined and efficient. A fee is charged for this service. This enables you to discuss plans with our planning officers and seek specialist advice from other areas of the council before you submit your planning application.
Apply to receive pre-application planning advice
To find out more about our fees and what type of proposals you can discuss, please refer to our Pre-application service protocol.
General advice
We encourage applicants to speak to anyone who might be affected by a development proposal early on in the process, particularly occupiers of neighbouring properties, in order to identify, and where possible resolve, any potential issues.
For major or significant schemes, we have produced a guide to community involvement in planning proposals which outlines how you can effectively engage with all stakeholders involved in your project.
We have developed a set of informal design leaflets aimed at helping property owners, architects and builders when preparing a design for their development proposal - Pre-application Building Design Advice.
If you are considering whether a development needs planning permission, we would recommend that before any development is carried out that a formal decision from the Council is sought as to whether or not planning permission is required. You can do this by submitting a lawful development certificate. For further information on this, please visit Find out if you need planning permission.
Please note that if you carry out development that requires planning permission without seeking the necessary planning permission then the development may be investigated by our planning enforcement team and could be subject to further action by the Council.
