View and comment on planning applications

Planning applications, appeals and decisions

Most recent planning applications, appeals and decisions (from 2005) are available to view on-line:

If you cannot find out a site’s planning history using the above methods, you can ask us to carry out a planning history search. For older planning history and those not available to view online you will need to use the planning history search service. You can find out about this service here. 

View plans and documents

Normally the plans and documents associated with new planning applications will be available to view as soon as possible. However, sometimes due to administrative work that must be carried out it may take several days for the information to appear. For reasons of confidentiality we may be obliged not to display certain applications.

To view the documents contained on the planning website you need to ensure that 'pop-ups' are allowed for the site www.harborough.gov.uk. If you are using Internet Explorer when you select the 'View Associated Documents' button you will see a message bar appear under the Internet Explorer address bar at the top of the page. Select this and allow pop ups from this site.

To view the documents or plans click on the Documents tab and then click on the View Document icon on the right side of the Document Description.

In using our planning website you are agreeing to our copyright notice.

Making a comment

If you wish to make a comment, please register with the Public Access online system.

Please note that, at present, this is a separate registration to that on the main Council web site. You will require a valid email address and postcode to register.

Anyone can comment on a planning application. Names and addresses of those who provide representations for or against planning applications are not published online.

Please do note that if you include any personal data, (names, addresses, telephone number, email addresses etc) within the body of your online comment (within the comment box), this will be published online when you submit your comment. You can request redaction at a later date by contacting the relevant case officer.

You still need to include your name and address as part of your comment when submitting a representation online. Names and addresses will still be held by the Council as part of the planning application and may still be publicly accessible, but will not be published online.

Please note that the above does not apply to historical comments submitted by letter or similar, but we can redact or remove any such comments on request. Please see the departmental privacy notice for more information about what we do with your information.

Making comments online is useful as it allows for easy tracking and viewing of comments and applications.  

All comments received will be taken into consideration provided that they are received before the application is determined.  The planning authority cannot reply directly to comments made which number 1000's annually. 

It is the quality of what is being said and the reasoning and evidence behind this, which often makes a difference to the outcome of a planning application not the number of comments received or who has made them.

If comments are not submitted this does not mean that we will have any less consideration of the planning issues involved.

Key areas of consideration can vary from one application to another. Although this is not a complete list, these may include:

  • Visual Impact
  • Privacy/overbearing
  • Daylight/sunlight
  • Noise, smell, etc.
  • Access/traffic
  • Ecology
  • Economic impact
  • Planning history
  • Related decisions

Other factors cannot be taken into account when determining a planning application. Although this is not a complete list, these may include:

  • The applicant
  • Land ownership
  • Private rights eg access
  • Restrictive covenants
  • Property Value
  • Competition
  • Loss of View
  • The existence of a 'better' site for development

If there is an appeal against a refusal of planning permission for a householder application, which is to be dealt with on the basis of written comments, all comments made about an application will be sent to the Secretary of State. There will be no further opportunity to comment at appeal stage.

Standards of conduct and acceptable use

All comments posted should be fair and relevant to current planning applications and should not contain offensive or personal material. We reserve the right to not consider and to remove any contributions or block users that break the following guidelines:

  • Be civil, tasteful and relevant
  • Do not post messages that are unlawful, prejudicial to court proceedings, abusive, harassing, defamatory, abusive, threatening, harmful, libellous, obscene, profane, sexually oriented or racially offensive
  • Do not swear
  • Do not make offensive remarks about someone else
  • Do not post content copied from elsewhere, for which you do not own the copyright
  • Do not post the same message, or very similar messages, more than once (also called "spamming")
  • Do not publicise your, or anyone else's, personal information, such as contact details
  • Do not advertise products or services
  • Do not impersonate someone else

Copyright notice and legal guidance on using the website

Plans, drawing and materials submitted to the council are protected by the Copyright Designs and Patents Act (Section 47 - 1988 Act).

The images are provided for information purposes only and you may only use material that is downloaded and/or printed for consultation processes, to compare current applications with previous schemes, and to check that developments have been completed in accordance with approved plans. Further copies must not be made without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

The online planning history contained within our site may be incomplete and must not be used as a substitute for carrying out a formal 'Land Charge Search' or inspection of the statutory register of planning applications.

No responsibility will be taken for any errors or omissions in the planning history information obtained from our planning system. Similarly the information contained within the system does not constitute, in any way, a formal notification of a planning decision, and as such any actions taken as a result of information displayed on the site are undertaken entirely at the viewer's own risk.

Use of personal data

The Data Protection Act 2018 in conjunction with the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK:GDPR) gives you rights to know about how your personal data is obtained and used by us, the data controller. We will retain your correspondence, as is required in accordance with the town and country planning legislation. We may also share the information you provide with other departments of the council and certain organisations, such as statutory and non-statutory consultees and the Planning Inspectorate, as is required by statute and for the purposes of processing the application and/or appeal. We therefore process your personal data in the exercise of our official authority and in carrying out a task in the public interest.

You have rights of access, rectification, erasure and restriction in respect of your personal data. In respect of these rights, if you have concerns about how your data is being processed by the Council, then you can contact the Data Protection Officer at FOI@harborough.gov.uk or see our privacy notice for further information on your data rights.