The full drawing set for a Marine application — location and block plans, existing and proposed floor plans, elevations and sections, drawn to Worthing Borough Council's validation checklist so the pack is accepted first time, delivered in days and revised free until your decision, with a free approval-odds check first.
Worthing Borough Council granted 94% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 7 points above the 87% England-wide householder average. Marine contains Marine Gardens, Mill Road, Robson Road conservation areas (Marine Gardens designated 2024), so materials, fenestration and roof form are assessed against the appraisal, which is where a policy-literate drawing pack earns its keep. Its dominant interwar (1918–1939) and postwar (1945–1970) housing stock sets the design brief on most streets.
Before permission is required, Class B allows 40m³ of added loft volume on a terrace and 50m³ on a semi or detached house, and Class A allows a 3m single-storey rear extension on a terrace or 4m on a detached house. Marine carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including Marine Gardens, Mill Road and Robson Road remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Marine is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Marine Gardens (conservation area designated in 2024), Mill Road (conservation area designated in 2000), Robson Road (conservation area designated in 1997) and Shaftesbury Avenue (conservation area designated in 1985) — these are the Marine pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Marine Gardens, Mill Road, Robson Road and Shaftesbury Avenue. Worthing Borough Council weighs each proposal against Worthing Borough Council's adopted local plan and its householder design guidance, where the 4,250 homes here are 42% 1930-1939, 10% 1919-1929, 9% 1955-1964, which is what sets the realistic roof and rear-projection options. On roofs the borough is hipped roofs with shallow pitches typical of 1930s building and hipped tiled roofs typical of early interwar building, over 1930s semi-detached and detached houses (42% of 4,250 homes), early interwar houses (10%) and late-1950s and early-1960s houses (9%).
What is permitted in Marine turns on designation first, so that is where we start: Marine Gardens (conservation area designated in 2024), Mill Road (conservation area designated in 2000), Robson Road (conservation area designated in 1997) and Shaftesbury Avenue (conservation area designated in 1985). Inside those boundaries permitted development is curtailed and Worthing Borough Council assesses materials, window detail and roof form against the area's own appraisal, so a scheme that would be waved through two streets away can need a full application here.
Worthing Borough Council has 8 recorded Article 4 directions, removing permitted development for rear and side extensions and roof enlargements such as dormers — check the address before assuming PD applies in Marine.
On stock, Marine is 1930s semi-detached and detached houses (42% of 4,250 homes), early interwar houses (10%) and late-1950s and early-1960s houses (9%) — which is why hipped roofs with shallow pitches typical of 1930s building and hipped tiled roofs typical of early interwar building govern what a loft or rear projection can realistically be. Worthing Borough Council decided 302 householder applications in the latest published year and granted 94%, with 53% issued inside the eight-week target. We draw to that record rather than to a national average.
The full build-period split for Marine runs pre-1900 4% (150 homes), 1900-1918 6% (270 homes), 1919-1929 10% (410 homes), 1930-1939 42% (1,790 homes), 1945-1954 3% (110 homes), 1955-1964 9% (390 homes), 1965-1972 8% (330 homes), 1973-1982 7% (290 homes), 1983-1992 4% (180 homes), 1993-1999 1% (50 homes) and 2000-2008 2% (80 homes). That distribution is why pre-1900 detailing dominates the drawings here, and it is measured from council-tax records rather than assumed from the street name.
Worthing Borough Council also decides for Central, Goring, Heene and Salvington, so a decision in Marine sits inside a wider pattern of decisions we track across the same authority — useful when an officer cites a precedent from the next area over.
The Article 4 directions recorded for this council include Ambrose Place, Church Road, Tarring, Cowper Road and Land West of The Plantation. Each removes a specific permitted-development right inside its own boundary, which is why the check is done on the address rather than on the town.
Published figures for Marine and Worthing Borough Council. These are the numbers that decide what is realistic on your street, so we work from them rather than from national averages.
| Measure | Marine |
|---|---|
| Dwellings recorded | 4,250 |
| Built pre-1900 | 150 (4%) |
| Built 1900-1918 | 270 (6%) |
| Built 1919-1929 | 410 (10%) |
| Built 1930-1939 | 1,790 (42%) |
| Built 1945-1954 | 110 (3%) |
| Built 1955-1964 | 390 (9%) |
| Built 1965-1972 | 330 (8%) |
| Built 1973-1982 | 290 (7%) |
| Built 1983-1992 | 180 (4%) |
| Built 1993-1999 | 50 (1%) |
| Built 2000-2008 | 80 (2%) |
| Built before 1919 | 10% |
| Built 1919–1939 | 52% |
| Built 1945–2008 | 34% |
| Conservation areas in Marine | 4 (Marine Gardens, Mill Road…) |
| Conservation areas district-wide | 26 |
| Article 4 directions recorded | 8 |
| Householder applications decided | 302 |
| Householder applications granted | 94% |
| Decided within 8 weeks | 53% |
Dwelling stock from VOA council-tax data at 31 March 2025; conservation-area and Article 4 counts from planning.data.gov.uk (MHCLG); decision figures are Worthing Borough Council's own, from MHCLG live table PS2 for the year to 31 March 2026.
Whatever you are building, Worthing Borough Council decides it from the same core set. A location plan at 1:1250 fixes the site on the map with the red-line boundary; a block plan at 1:500 shows the property in its plot; then existing and proposed floor plans and elevations at 1:100 or 1:50 show the house as it is and as it will be. Larger schemes add a section and, where policy requires, a design and access statement. Miss one and the application is returned invalid before an officer has looked at it.
The drawings are also the argument. Worthing Borough Council assesses each proposal against Worthing Borough Council's adopted local plan and its householder design guidance, and the elevations are where the case is won or lost — ridge and eaves heights, window positions, materials and how the change reads from the street. On Marine's stock, which runs to 1930s semi-detached and detached houses (42% of 4,250 homes), early interwar houses (10%) and late-1950s and early-1960s houses (9%), the same scheme is drawn differently to answer the concerns officers raise here. Marine contains Marine Gardens, Mill Road, Robson Road conservation areas (Marine Gardens designated 2024), so materials, fenestration and roof form are assessed against the appraisal, so the pack is built to pre-empt exactly that.
Where the property sits in a conservation area — Marine Gardens, Mill Road, Robson Road and Shaftesbury Avenue among Marine's — validation is stricter still, often demanding heritage detail and sometimes additional plans. Worthing Borough Council has 8 recorded Article 4 directions, removing permitted development for rear and side extensions and roof enlargements such as dormers — check the address before assuming PD applies in Marine. We confirm the designation before drawing so the pack meets the higher bar first time.
Worthing Borough Council validates against a published checklist before it assesses anything. A typical householder application needs each of these, correctly scaled and labelled:
We draw the complete set — location and block plans, existing and proposed plans, elevations and any section — to Worthing Borough Council's checklist, then lodge it on the Planning Portal, manage validation and answer case-officer queries so the application is decided on its merits, not bounced on a technicality.
Below is Worthing Borough Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Worthing Borough Council granted 94% of its householder applications in the year to 31 March 2026, and Marine Gardens shapes what is approved here. A complete, correctly scaled pack that answers those concerns on the elevations is validated faster and refused less often than one that leaves them for the officer to raise.
Source: MHCLG planning application statistics (householder decisions, England, 1 April 2025 - 31 March 2026). Compare every borough on our London approval-rate league table.
Tell us about your project and get a fixed, no-obligation quote back within one working day. If you don't need planning permission at all, we'll tell you that too — for free.
Two different things sink an application, and they happen at two different stages. First is validation: a missing block plan, an unscaled elevation, no red line, no north point — Worthing Borough Council returns the whole submission and the clock never starts. Getting the pack right at this stage is purely mechanical, and it is where a lot of self-submitted Marine applications lose weeks. We draw to the checklist so this never happens.
Second is the planning judgement itself, once the pack is valid. The 4,250 homes here are 42% 1930-1939, 10% 1919-1929, 9% 1955-1964, which is what sets the realistic roof and rear-projection options. Across Marine Gardens, Mill Road and Robson Road the recurring refusals are about scale, overlooking and how the proposal sits against its neighbours — all of which are settled on the drawings. We draw the scheme to answer them before submission rather than after a refusal.
The application pack is the same discipline whatever the project. A few of the Marine neighbourhoods and property types we prepare drawings for most often:
Planning drawings for Marine Gardens's conservation area designated in 2024 — scaled, validation-ready and drawn to Worthing Borough Council's guidance.
Planning drawings for Mill Road's conservation area designated in 2000 — scaled, validation-ready and drawn to Worthing Borough Council's guidance.
Planning drawings for Robson Road's conservation area designated in 1997 — scaled, validation-ready and drawn to Worthing Borough Council's guidance.
Planning drawings for Shaftesbury Avenue's conservation area designated in 1985 — scaled, validation-ready and drawn to Worthing Borough Council's guidance.
The route decides what Worthing Borough Council needs and how long it takes. This is how the common Marine routes compare.
| Route | When it applies | Core drawings | Typical decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Householder application | Extensions and alterations to a single house | Location, block, existing & proposed plans and elevations | About 8 weeks |
| Full application | Flats, new units, changes of use | As householder plus site plan and often a section | 8–13 weeks |
| Lawful development certificate | Confirming a scheme is permitted development | Existing & proposed plans and elevations to prove PD limits | About 8 weeks |
| Prior approval | Larger single-storey rear extensions | Plans and elevations plus neighbour notification | About 6 weeks |
In a conservation area such as Marine Gardens and Mill Road, householder permitted-development rights are often restricted, so a full application and heritage detail may be required.
A fixed process built around how Worthing Borough Council validates and decides — most drawing sets are submission-ready within seven days of survey.
Send us your Marine postcode and what you want to build. We confirm your conservation and Article 4 status, tell you which application route applies, and score your odds against live Worthing Borough Council decisions.
We measure the property and plot so the existing plans and elevations are accurate to the millimetre — the base every proposed drawing and every officer judgement is built on.
Chartered designers produce the full validation pack — location and block plans, existing and proposed plans, elevations, any section and a design and access statement — drawn to Worthing Borough Council's checklist.
We lodge the application on the Planning Portal, manage validation and case-officer queries, and revise the drawings free until Worthing Borough Council issues its decision.
Worthing Borough Council validates a householder application against a set list: a location plan at 1:1250 with a red-line boundary, a block plan at 1:500, and existing and proposed floor plans and elevations at 1:100 or 1:50, each with a scale bar and north point. Larger schemes and most conservation-area work also need a design and access statement. If any of these is missing or unscaled the application is returned invalid before it is assessed. This applies to your Marine address specifically.
Almost always because the drawing pack is incomplete or wrongly scaled — a missing block plan, an elevation with no scale, no red line on the location plan, no north point. Worthing Borough Council checks the pack against its validation list before an officer ever assesses the scheme, so these purely technical gaps cost weeks. Drawing to the checklist from the outset is the simplest way to avoid a return. This applies to your Marine address specifically.
Yes. We prepare the full drawing set, lodge it on the Planning Portal on your behalf, pay the Worthing Borough Council fee where you prefer us to, and then manage validation and case-officer questions through to the decision. You get the reference number and updates without dealing with the portal or the council yourself. This applies to your Marine address specifically.
A householder application is a statutory eight weeks from validation, and a full application eight to thirteen weeks depending on scale. The date that matters is validation, not submission — an invalid pack never starts the clock. Because we draw to Worthing Borough Council's checklist the application validates quickly, so the statutory period begins without the delay a returned pack causes. This applies to your Marine address specifically.
You do not strictly need a planning application, but scaled existing and proposed drawings are still worth having: a lawful development certificate from Worthing Borough Council proves the scheme is permitted development, which lenders and buyers increasingly ask for, and your builder needs the drawings to price and build. In a conservation area such as Marine Gardens and Mill Road, permitted-development rights are often removed, so a full application may be needed after all — we confirm which before you commit.
We price each Marine job individually — the scope of the survey and the size of the drawing set vary from a simple rear extension to a whole-house scheme — and send a fixed, no-obligation quote within one working day. It covers the full validation pack with free revisions until Worthing Borough Council decides. The Worthing Borough Council application fee is separate and paid to the council. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.
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