"dg" wrote
| Can someone advise on the authority of a local council to specify a
| particular type (ie their own format) of forms for a planning application.
| In particular I am looking for details of a planning application for fee
| exempt work (ie for disabled improvements).
| A local council has returned an application on behalf of a disabled
client,
| as we did not use their special form - although we did include a cover
| letter with all the details. Other councils we have dealt with only seem
to
| need some sort of valid proof of disability.
| The council have stated that the application is invalid and can not be
| submitted without their specific form for fee exempt work.

If you are word-processing your application and the council only supplies
paper forms, you could argue they are in breach of the Disability
Discrimination Act because their forms are incompatible with assistive
technology :-)

Owain