1.4 Apply for Road Construction Consent

1.4.1 Apply for Road Construction Consent

East Lothian Council now charges all developers (including affordable housing sites) appropriate recovery costs for processing and issuing Road Construction Consents (RCC). The new charging scheme includes a fixed fee of £500 per application, £35 per metre for the first 100 metres then £20 per metre for each subsequent metre, and £5 for each metre of path.

You must apply for your RCC at least three months prior to the proposed commencement of construction.

Before using our new online RCC application process, you will need to create a bisaccount with the Scottish Government's Improvement Service. You only need to do this once, and it enables businesses to prove who they are and transact with the council online using just one username and password. Find out more about bisaccount.

As this is a new process, you may want to download this blank form to let you know in advance what information may be required. Any comments or questions should be submitted to transportplanning@eastlothian.gov.uk.

Apply and pay for Road Construction Consent

In order to determine an application we require the following documents as a minimum:

Location plan
General arrangement plan (in the context of any surrounding development phasing)
Road setting out and levels layout
Road construction details (where different to our standard details)
Road longitudinal sections
Kerbing layout
Drainage layout including Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS)
Drainage construction details (where different to our standard details)
Drainage longitudinal sections
Finishes layout
Vehicle swept path analysis (For residential areas, use the "Large Rigid Vehicle" as defined by the Freight Transport Association; for bus routes, use a 13.5m bus; for non-residential, use the longest likely vehicle.)
Road adoption plan
Land factoring plan
Quality Audit – including Road Safety Audits together with the Designer's Responses
Signs and lines drawing
Traffic signals layout and operational details
Street lighting layout and calculations
Vehicle charging points and connections
General arrangement and structural details for structures associated with the road network
Any other details required to enable the assessment of the proposal

1.4.2 Supporting documents

East Lothian Council checksheets

You will find it helpful to complete the checksheets below before making a submission. These identify what we we will be looking for as we assess the Road Construction Consent.

Neighbour Notifications

The developer is required to notify any person who owns land which fronts, abuts or is comprehended in the new roads, or which lies within 50m of the road for which Road Construction Consent is being sought. You can use Form CC3 to issue the notifications.

Scottish Water Approval

Evidence of Scottish Water's Technical Approval will be required, and this must reference current revisions of the drawings.

Email flooding@eastlothian.gov.uk with any queries relating to drainage and flooding.

Drainage Assessment

Evidence that the Drainage Assessment, including a Surface Water Management Plan has been submitted to and approved by the Statutory Authorities.

Any questions about the Drainage Assessment requirements should be directed to flooding@eastlothian.gov.uk.

DNO comments on EV infrastructure

We require confirmation from the DNO (electrical Distribution Network Operator, currently SPEN for our area) regarding the suitability of the grid connection for vehicle chargers.

Questions should be directed to evcharging@eastlothian.gov.uk.

Structures Technical Approval

Where the submission includes structures associated with the road network (e.g. retaining walls, culverts or bridges) the application will be subject to Technical Approval Procedures as outlined in CG 300 of the Design Manual for Roads & Bridges, and Technical Approval must be sought before the application for an RCC. If the need for an additional or amended structure arises after the granting of Road Construction Consent, the developer should seek the approval of the Council’s Roads Authority before starting construction of it.

Any questions about Structures Technical Approval should be directed to bridges@eastlothian.gov.uk.

Lighting Calculations

Please note that you will be expected to ensure that lighting on existing roads is suitable for any new accesses. Email stlighting@eastlothian.gov.uk with any queries relating to lighting.

Mineral Working Report

In areas that are known to have been in-filled or have a history of mineral workings, we may require a mineral report together with supporting information on ground stability.

Note: These webpages are for reference by developers of housing and employment sites in East Lothian.
They provide guidance on transport infrastructure against which Planning Applications will be assessed
and evaluated, and set out East Lothian Council's procedures regarding the construction and adoption
of new roads in accordance with current legislation.
These pages supersede all previous versions of our Standards for Development Roads document. 

Revisions 
01/07/2023 Document release
03/07/2023 Added links to Bisaccount in S1.4.1 and minor updates to S1.4.2 Supporting Documents
03/08/2023 Changed reference to charging for RCCs to omit start date
06/10/2023 Added ELC checksheets to S1.4.2 Supporting Documents
22/11/2023 Added clarification that affordable housing sites will be required to pay for an RCC