Planning committee is a formal meeting of
councillors who make decisions on certain planning
applications. The reasons why some planning applications go to
planning committee are set out in our Scheme of Delegation.
The scheme is discretionary which means that we can choose to take
any application to committee. You can view this as part of
the Council's
Constitution. This must be read in
conjunction with Previous
and Current DCLG
Codes (PDF File, 188kb)
Planning committee is usually
help every four weeks. Meetings start at 4pm and are held at
at Castle House.
How do
you find out whether your application is going to planning
committee?
If an application is to be
determined at planning committee, we will inform the applicant /
agent. You can also view the agenda for the next meetings on our
website.
For each application going to
committee, we write a committee report. Each report has:
·
A description of the site and the
application
·
A list of planning policies
·
Details of any letters we received about the
application
·
A detailed assessment of the application
·
The Officer’s recommended decision
Copies of the reports are
available five working days before the date of committee
(copies are not made available to the public at the
meeting).
The Council has a duty to
consider all material
planning considerations up to the point of a
decision being made. That often means that ‘late
information’ (information submitted between the agenda being
published and the actual decision being made) is submitted. Such
information is always available in paper form at the start of the
Committee. The receipt of later information may mean that a matter
if deferred.
Who attends planning committee?
Our planning committee is
made up of 15 members of the Council.
Some officers of the council also attend,
including Business Managers, Planning Officers, Legal
Representative and Administration Officer.
At the start of the meeting,
any officer or councillor declares if they have an
“interest” in any item on the agenda. Members may
leave the meeting due to the nature of interest.
Site visits
Before each
meeting, councillors may choose to undertake a site visit.
These normally take place during the morning on the day of
committee. A letter will be sent to the applicant / agent
before the visit to ensure access is available. We will normally
spend around 10 to 15 minutes at the site along with looking at the
plans. A Planning Officer will accompany the site visit to answer
any questions. The planning committee members cannot speak to any applicant, agent,
local resident or member while at the site.
What happens at the Committee
Meeting?
It is a public meeting that
anyone can attend. You do not have to stay for the whole
meeting.
We normally determine every
application going to committee; however, sometimes applications can
be deferred. This is usually to allow members to visit the site, to
seek further information, or to amend the plans. The
chairperson will open the meeting. One of our officers will then
give details of the application.
A local member and a
representative of the parish council can speak about the
application if they choose. They can speak for 5 minutes
each. At present no one else can speak at planning
committee. If an application has previously been deferred
without being debated (i.e. the parish council representative has
not already spoken) the application will be heard in full as normal
at the next Committee it is presented to. If the application is
deferred following debate (i.e. after the parish council
representative has spoken) any speaking at the next Committee will
be restricted to any new information provided as a result of, or
following of the deferral. If a matter is deferred solely for a
visit and the parish representative has already spoken the
representative will not normally be permitted to speak
again.
Any questions that are raised
by committee members will be answered by planning officers. During
the debate, members will propose and second a decision, this may
not be the same as the decision that officers have recommended
within the report. If committee members refuse or approve an
application contrary to the officers recommendation they must give
clear planning reasons for their decision.
Members will then vote on the
application, the chair will announce the decision. This is
repeated for each application.
What happens after planning
committee?
After committee we will
action the decision requested by the planning committee and send
the decision out within the next five working days. If you
did not attend, decisions are put on our website.
Minutes are taken at planning
committee and are available five working days before the next
committee meeting.
Alternatively you can contact
our Customer Services Team on 01636 650000.