The planning process explained
Every planning application we receive goes through the same Planning Decision Making Process. The majority of planning applications are usually determined by officers under delegated powers set out in our constitution.
However, more complex planning applications are generally determined at Planning Committee which usually meets every four weeks.
Application validated, checked and registered
First, we will check that all the details submitted on your application are correct, all necessary documents and plans have been received and that the relevant fee has been paid.
The application will be considered valid from the date all the correct required information is received, where it will then be registered and all documents loaded to Planning: Simple Search.
Following registration, you will be allocated a Planning Officer (Case Officer) who will be your main point of contact. Please note, if you are using an agent all correspondence will be sent to your agent.
Application determination
Consultation and site visit
Following registration appropriate consultation/publicity may be required. For example, we may put up a site notice which needs to stay for a minimum of 21 days; during this time we may also contact interested parties such as ward councillors and neighbours, giving 21 days to comment. More specific information on our consultation and publicity process can be found here.
A site visit will be carried out by your case officer to assess the application and its impact on the surrounding area. You may be contacted to arrange access or they may look from neighbouring properties or sites.
Assessment and officer recommendation
Following the consultation period and site visit the case officer will make a recommendation on whether to approve, approve subject to conditions, or refuse your application. Most planning applications are determined by officers under delegated powers set out in our constitution.
More complex planning applications or those that have been Called-In by a Councillor will be determined by Planning Committee rather than the case officer. Under the Councillor Call-In process, ward councillors have 28 days from the date of validation to refer a planning application for the Planning Committee to decide, they must provide valid planning reasons to do so.
Decision notice
Decision made and issued
When the application has been determined a formal decision notice will be issued to the applicant or their agent. The decision will outline whether planning permission has been granted, possibly with conditions which will be outlined in the decision noticed, or whether planning permission has been refused.
To find out about a planning permission or decision notice you can use the Planning Search Tool. A copy of the planning decision notice will be available online in the documents section.
Applications that are approved
If the application has been approved development can commence unless the planning permission has been granted subject to planning conditions that require further details to be submitted or 'discharged' (see here). You should also check whether building regulation approval is needed here.
You can also find out about making changes to your planning proposal after permission has been granted here.
Applications that are refused
Your decision notice will outline the reasons a planning application has been refused, you can ask the Case Officer for further clarification about these reasons if you are not clear.
If you think it might be possible to overcome the reasons for refusal you may wish to discuss this with us and apply for pre-application advice for guidance about overcoming the reasons for refusal and forming a revised proposal.
If you submit a revised application within 12 months of the decision you may benefit from a free application. Whether you are eligible for a ‘free go’ is subject to various criteria which you should check here, this includes:
- The application must be the first ‘free go’ (only one is allowed)
- The application site and red line must be the same
- The proposal must be similar
If you are the applicant and disagree with the decision to refuse an application you may also choose to appeal the planning decision.
When does it expire?
Planning permissions expire after a certain period. Normally, unless your permission says otherwise, you have three years from the date it is granted to begin the development after which time permission will lapse.
If your planning permission has expired, or you wish to extend the expiry period, you would need to re-apply for planning permission as before. There is no guarantee that permission will be granted a second or subsequent time. More information can be found on Planning Portal.
Appeal against a planning decision
If you are the applicant and you are not happy with our decision to refuse an application or the imposition of conditions you may choose to appeal the planning decision. The Planning Inspectorate appeals page contains more detailed advice and guidance about submitting an appeal and the appeal process.
We would always encourage applicants to contact us first to see if a compromise can be reached before making an appeal.
Please note: if an appeal is allowed the development can proceed; if it is dismissed our decision will stand.
Third party rights
Unless you are the applicant, you cannot appeal against a decision made by the council.
If you have concerns regarding the process we followed to make our decision, you can complain to the Local Government Ombudsman. Please note that the Ombudsman has no power to alter the decision, even if the Council's administration has not been completely correct.
Discharging planning conditions
Planning permission may be granted subject to planning conditions. These conditions may require further informatation to be submitted to us for formal agreement- this is known as approval or 'discharge' of conditions.
When planning permission is granted subject to conditions, it is the responsibility of the applicant, or any subsequent developer, to ensure that the terms of all conditions are met in full. Any conditions required to be 'discharged' can be found on your Decision Notice. Before you plan to start any work you should allow plenty of time for your submissions to be considered.
You will need to complete an 'Approval of details reserved by condition' form and pay the relevant fee. The correct application form can be found here.
Please note the fee is per request, not per condition, therefore you may consider submitting several of your conditions in one go, as long as they are all from the same planning permission.
You will not need to provide samples of materials unless the decision notice specifically states this.
Next steps
In most cases we should be able to give you a response in approximately 3 weeks. If the matter is complex and we need to consult other people, this may increase to 8-12 weeks.
If the details submitted are not satisfactory, we will inform you within 12 weeks that the conditions cannot be discharged. You will then need to resubmit with a further fee.
If you would like to vary or remove a condition attached to a planning permission decision notice you can submit a removal or variation application with the relevant fee.