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Crown Development Applications - GOV.UK
Crown Development Applications - GOV.UK
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Guidance
Crown Development Applications
Information on Crown Development Applications (applications under sections 293D and 293E of the Town and Country Planning Act)
From:
Planning Inspectorate
Published
1 May 2025
25 September 2025
See all updates
Applies to England
Overview
Crown Development applications for planning permission are made in respect of Crown land. They relate to nationally important development and are made by the appropriate authority (for example, Government Departments) directly to the Secretary of State rather than to the local planning authority who usually decide planning applications. For further information on the meaning of ‘national importance’, please see the
Written Ministerial Statement
There are two types of Crown Development application:
Urgent Crown Development
Non-urgent Crown Development
Applications for urgent Crown Development are made to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. For further information, please see the
Planning Practice Guidance.
Applications for non-urgent Crown Development are made to the Planning Inspectorate. This guidance page covers non-urgent Crown Development.
Consultation
Once the Planning Inspectorate receive a Crown Development application, we will check that the application has been submitted correctly.
If we are satisfied that the application has been submitted correctly, we will begin a consultation process.
At this stage, anyone may submit comments about the application. All comments should be submitted on the
Find a Crown Development Application service
. The service provides further information on submitting comments and the details and key information on individual applications.
Procedure
Once the consultation stage ends, the Planning Inspectorate will decide whether the application should follow the written representations, hearing or inquiry procedure.
The Decision
Once a decision is made, it will be published on the
Find a Crown Development Application service
Further Information
The Crown development process is explained in detail in the
Crown Development Procedural Guidance
For definitions of the words we use, go to our
Words we use to talk about Crown Development applications guidance
Updates to this page
Published 1 May 2025
show all updates
25 September 2025
Link to 'definitions of the words we use' new guide added to this page.
1 May 2025
First published.
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