Mid Cornwall · TR2
One studio for planning application in Probus
We prepare and submit planning applications to Cornwall Council and, where relevant, the Isles of Scilly authority — handling drawings, statements, validation queries and officer negotiation from start to determination. The way we approach planning application in Probus starts with a measured walk-round — Probus is a substantial inland village between Truro and St Austell, with the tallest church tower in Cornwall and a Conservation Area covering the village centre, with a building stock that leans toward post-war estates and traditional cob and granite cottages.
Probus sits in Mid Cornwall — covering TR2 from Grampound, Ladock, Tresillian outward.
- Conservation Area
- Rural / open-countryside policy area
- ✓ Fixed-fee planning packages, no surprise invoices
- ✓ Measured-survey accuracy from day one
- ✓ 30+ years of Cornwall Council approvals
- ✓ One studio — design, planning and build under one roof
Our process
How a Probus planning application project runs.
Step 1
Initial review
We assess constraints — Conservation Area, AONB, listed status, Article 4, TPOs, flood zone.
Step 2
Strategy
We recommend the right application type and likely fee, programme and supporting documents.
Step 3
Drawing and statement preparation
Plans, elevations, sections, block and location plans, plus DAS and any heritage or ecology input.
Step 4
Submission and validation
We upload to the Planning Portal, pay the council fee on your behalf and respond to validation requests.
Step 5
Determination
We monitor consultation, respond to officer queries and negotiate amendments where it improves the chances of approval.
Householder applications are typically eight to twelve weeks from validation; full planning runs thirteen to sixteen weeks; major or contentious schemes can take longer.
Local proof — Recent planning application enquiries from Probus have clustered around post-war estates — we know the route through Cornwall Council on these.
Get a free feasibility viewWhat we focus on
Planning considerations specific to Probus.
01
Article 4 directions in some parishes remove permitted development rights you'd normally rely on elsewhere.
02
Pre-app responses are not binding but they are a strong steer — and worth the fee on anything contentious.
03
Cornwall has more than thirty Conservation Areas and large stretches of AONB; planning weight on materials, mass and form is significantly higher in those zones.
04
Tree Preservation Orders, ecology surveys and neighbour consultation responses can change the validation list mid-application.
Local context
Why Probus is its own job.
Two things shape a Probus application: parish character and policy. On policy — conservation Area covers the village core including the church. Tregothnan Estate (the largest private estate in Cornwall) lies to the south and shapes some adjacent applications. For planning application specifically, parts of Probus sit within a designated Conservation Area, which means materials, fenestration and roof pitches all need to read sympathetically with the existing streetscape; Cornwall Council's Local Plan applies tighter tests to isolated rural dwellings here, so design rationale and policy fit need to be set out clearly from the outset. Get that local reading right and the rest of the Probus programme tends to run on time. On post-war estates in particular — the kind you'll also find toward Tregony — the planning application brief always has to read the existing fabric first.
Planning note
Cornwall Council's planning team is among the busiest in the South West. A clean, well-documented submission moves through validation faster than a bare-minimum one.
Local watch-list
Probus-specific issues we screen on the first visit.
Watch #1
Conservation Area material and fenestration controls in central Probus
Watch #2
Tighter Local Plan tests on isolated rural dwellings
Local fabric
Probus planning — the local-studio difference.
Building stock
Across Probus (TR2) we work on traditional cob and granite cottages, Victorian terraces, Edwardian villas, post-war estates, modern Persimmon-style estates. Each stock type drives a different planning application response — post-war estates in particular needs careful detailing here.
Parish & policy
Probus is its own town in Mid Cornwall, with planning history that's specific to the TR2 catchment.
Coverage
We cover TR2 from our studio, with regular planning application jobs also running in Grampound, Ladock, Tresillian. Most Probus site visits get booked within the same week.
Can you handle both planning and build in Probus?
Yes — design, planning, building regs and full construction run under one roof. For clients with an existing Probus builder we can stop at a tender-ready Full Plans pack instead.
Request a free visitWho this is for
Probus runs the full mix — owner-occupier, holiday-let, commercial and the occasional smallholding — so we scope every planning application enquiry from the use-class up.
FAQs
Probus Planning — local questions answered.
- Do I need to consult my neighbours before applying?
- You don't have to — the council formally consults them — but a quiet conversation early on usually pays off. Objections from neighbours are weighed by the planning officer and can be the deciding factor on borderline schemes. In Probus specifically, we'd start by checking the Conservation Area boundary before committing to a direction.
- What's the difference between full planning and householder?
- Householder covers extensions, outbuildings and alterations to a single dwelling. Full planning is needed for new dwellings, change of use, and anything affecting curtilage subdivision. We'll confirm which route fits at first review.
- What if the council asks for more information after submission?
- Common, and usually fixable. Validation requests, ecology comments, highways queries and design tweaks all get handled by us inside the application — no extra fee unless the scope changes substantially.
- How much does a planning application cost in Cornwall?
- Cornwall Council charges a fixed national fee — currently £258 for a householder application and £578 for a single new dwelling. Our fee for the drawings, statements and submission sits separately and depends on project complexity.
- Do you handle listed building consent?
- Yes. Listed Building Consent runs alongside planning where works affect a listed structure, including some interior alterations. The drawing detail and Heritage Statement are fundamentally different from a standard planning pack.
Other services in Probus
Nearby places we cover
The TR2 stretch of Mid Cornwall has its own rhythm; our planning application work respects it, and Cornwall Council usually responds in kind.