Planning Application Process
- What happens after an application has been submitted?
- Timescales for determining Planning Applications
- How to comment on a Planning Application
What happens after an application has been submitted?
Once a planning application has been submitted for minerals, waste or County Council development, the following series of events takes place:Validation
Initial checks are undertaken to ensure that the application is accompanied by all the information that is required to describe the development, including accurate scale plans and signed certificates. The application must be submitted with the appropriate fee before validation.Registration
Once an application has been validated it is given an application number and the information is entered on the County Council's Planning Development Control System. The applicant receives formal acknowledgment of the application.Consultation
Copies of the application are sent out to selected organisations for comment. This includes the relevant District and Parish/Town Councils, statutory bodies and consultees within the County Council such as the local County Councillor, Planning Policy and the Highways Development Control Group. The number of consultees varies depending upon the complexity of the application. When determining planning applications accompanied by an environmental statement, the County Planning Authority may consult widely.
The County Planning Authority normally requests that consultation responses are received within a period of 21 days, but this may be extended for more complex applications and / or on the request of an individual consultee.
If further information is submitted by the applicant (for example following a request from a consultee or planning officers), it may be necessary to consult further on this new information.
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Applications are normally advertised as part of the wider consultation process to inform the public and give people the opportunity to comment on the submitted proposals. This usually involves placing a notice on the site and / or in the local paper. Neighbours living in close proximity to the application site are also normally notified of the application by letter.Report Preparation
Once the consultation period has expired, the planning case officer dealing with the application will prepare a report. This will assess the planning issues raised by the proposals including the extent to which they comply with relevant planning policies set out in the Development Plan. The report will also take on board any comments or issues raised by consultees. Having weighed the various issues a recommendation will be made on whether or not to approve the application.Delegated Decision
Where an application is considered to be minor in nature or relates to planning conditions associated with a previous planning consent, the application may be determined under powers delegated to the Head of Environment and Planning. Before a delegated decision is taken, certain criteria must be reached, for example the proposal should not depart from the current development plan or there should be no relevant planning objection lodged in writing against it.Planning Committee
The County Council’s Planning Committee normally meets on the third Wednesday of every month. The Committee considers an agenda comprising a series of reports by planning officers on individual applications. Other planning related items may also be on the agenda. The Planning Committee is a public meeting and the agenda is made available for inspection up to 5 days in advance of the meeting.Issue of Decision
Once a planning application has been determined a decision notice must be issued. If planning permission has been granted, the decision notice will set out the reasons for approval and will normally include a number of planning conditions to control the development. A decision notice for a complex proposal may contain a significant number of conditions to control the key aspects of the proposed development (for example traffic routing, noise, dust, site layout etc). If the Planning Committee resolved to refuse the application then the decision notice must set out the reasons for refusal.
In the case of some more complex proposals it may also be necessary for the Planning Authority to enter into a Legal Agreement with the applicant (and possibly also other parties with an interest in the development) to control aspects of the development which it might not be possible to address fully through planning conditions.
Timescales for Determining Planning Applications
The County Planning Authority will aim to issue a decision notice on applications which are not accompanied by an Environmental Statement within the statutory 8 week period from the date of receipt of a valid planning application.
For more complex proposals the County Planning Authority may need to undertake additional consultations/negotiations before the application is ready to be considered by the Planning Committee. In such circumstances planning officers may seek the voluntary agreement of the applicant to extend the determination timescale by a specified amount, to allow sufficient time for resolution of any outstanding planning issues. Notwithstanding this, the County Planning Authority will aim to determine the majority of applications that are not accompanied by an Environmental Statement within a 13 week period from receipt of a valid application.
For applications accompanied by Environmental Statements the County Planning Authority will aim to issue a decision notice within the statutory 16 week period from the date of receipt of a valid planning application. Planning officers may however seek the voluntary agreement of the applicant to extend the determination timescale beyond 16 weeks if this is necessary in order to allow sufficient time for resolution of any outstanding planning issues.
How to Comment on a Planning Application
The following document provides advice with regards to making comments on any Planning Applications which are currently under consideration by the County Planning Authority. It also discusses procedures involved in making representations in person at Planning Committee.You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this information.
RepsLeaflet(August 2005).pdf (3 pages, 25kb)
Date of Publication: August 2005
How to Contact Us
Tel: 0191 3835698Email: Development Control
