Local planning authority
Medway on ValidFirst
What applicants and the validation team at Medway Council would see. It runs on the national validation requirements and the real site constraints for any postcode in Medway; Medway Council's own local validation list is added when it joins.
Independent preview. ValidFirst is not part of Medway Council and this page is not endorsed by it. For the council’s own planning services, go to medway.gov.uk.

Try it here
Start with a postcode in Medway
ValidFirst finds the planning authority for the postcode and lists what national planning data says about the site, before a single document is uploaded. Then try a check with your own drawings.
Only the postcode is used, never a house number or a name.
Type a postcode to see the site’s designations
Conservation area, listed building, Article 4 direction, protected trees, flood zone, Green Belt, National Landscape and more.
Application types
What applicants in Medway would be asked for
Householder
Householder planning permission
For extensions, loft conversions and dormers, porches, garden rooms and garages, and fences, walls or driveways at a house, when the works need planning permission. Not for flats, new homes or a change of use.
3 documents always needed · 101 checks
Full planning permission
Full planning permission (minor development)
For up to 9 new homes, conversions into flats, changes of use, works to flats and commercial buildings, and new shopfronts. Not for extensions to a house (use householder) or major development.
4 documents always needed · 114 checks
Trees
Works to protected trees
Consent to cut down or prune a tree with a Tree Preservation Order, or 6 weeks' notice for a tree in a conservation area. There's no fee.
2 documents always needed · 22 checks
Lawful development certificates
Lawful development certificate (proposed)
A legally binding confirmation from the council that something you plan to do, most often a permitted development extension, loft conversion or outbuilding, would be lawful without planning permission.
2 documents always needed · 65 checks
Listed buildings
Listed building consent
For works that affect the character of a listed building, inside or out: alterations, extensions and demolition. Often needed alongside planning permission.
7 documents always needed · 75 checks
Prior approval
Prior approval: larger single-storey rear extension
For a single-storey rear extension deeper than 3 m (4 m for a detached house) and up to 6 m (8 m detached), under permitted development. The council asks your neighbours and only looks at the effect on them.
2 documents always needed · 41 checks
Advertisements
Advertisement consent
Consent to display a sign or advert, such as an illuminated fascia, a projecting sign, a totem or a hoarding, when it doesn't have deemed consent.
4 documents always needed · 24 checks
Lawful development certificates
Lawful development certificate (existing)
A legally binding confirmation that an existing use, building work or breach of a condition is lawful, usually because it has gone on long enough that no enforcement action can be taken.
4 documents always needed · 34 checks
For the planning team at Medway
A 12-week pilot, measured against your own baseline
- We set up Medway Council’s local validation list with you, every item with its paragraph; you approve it before anything goes live.
- Applicants and agents check before they submit; your validation officers see the findings, the site constraints and a draft invalid-application letter.
- Works alongside the Planning Portal and your back office: nothing to install, and every application exports as a check report plus all its files.
- We measure first-time valid rate, validation time per application and how often the check agreed with your officers, against a baseline from your own system.
- No cost for the pilot. A DPIA, data processing terms and an ATRS record are ready for your DPO.
Medway Council’s data in national planning data
- Conservation areas24
- Article 4 direction areas47
- Tree preservation order areas555
- Protected treesnot published yet
Counted from planning.data.gov.uk bulk data, 15 November 2026. National datasets (listed buildings, flood zones, Green Belt, National Landscapes) cover every council.
Alongside PlanAssist
PlanAssist, government’s officer tool for householder assessment, is in a 15-council beta and which government intends to offer to every council in England by the end of 2027. ValidFirst works before submission and at validation, for more application types, and is available now. The two can work side by side.
Compare the two