PAPER  C

 

Purpose: For Decision

 

 

Committee:      DEVELOPMENT CONTROL COMMITTEE     

 

Date:                16TH DECEMBER 2003          

 

Title:                POLICY IN RESPECT OF PUBLICITY OF PLANNING APPLICATIONS         

 

REPORT OF THE HEAD OF PLANNING SERVICES

                                                                                                                                                 

 


SUMMARY

 

To review the policy and procedure in respect of the publicity (or advertising) of planning applications and other related submissions

 

BACKGROUND

 

Section 16 of the Planning & Compensation Act 1991, amended the Town & Country Planning Act 1990, enabling a provision to be made in the General Development Order (GDO) for the compulsory publicity of all planning applications.  An amendment to the GDO set out the statutory requirements for different categories of development, and Circular 15/92 (Publicity for Planning Applications) gives guidance on the interpretation of the regulations as well as advice on best practice.

 

In the vast majority of cases, responsibility for publicising or advertising applications falls to the Local Planning Authority.

 

Members serving on this Committee will be familiar with the three basic types of publicity:-

 

·         Publishing a notice in a newspaper circulating in the locality

·         Posting a site notice(s), visible to the general public

·         Neighbour notification to owner/occupiers of adjoining properties and land

 

Circular 15/92 advises that neighbour notification may be more appropriate where interested parties are limited to those living in the immediate vicinity, whereas site notices are effective where there is doubt about who the interested parties are or where other persons may be interested in the development.

 

The initial publicity policy was introduced by the former Isle of Wight Joint Planning Technical Unit in 1992.  This policy was reviewed in July 2001 and eventually replaced, following Committee consideration, by a new policy document.

 

The purpose of this report is not to review the present policy insofar as it relates to those applications requiring a special press advertisement or the weekly press list, a document which all Members will be familiar with, which appears in the CP and has also been available electronically for a considerable period of time. 

 

The report focuses on two key issues:-

 

·         Identification of those applications requiring site notice(s)

·         Identification of those applications requiring individual neighbour notification

 

Notes accompanying the present policy document state:-

 

Notwithstanding the requirements and guidance on publicity, the Director of Environment Services shall continue to use his/her discretion to identify those applications where a site notice(s) is displayed and individual neighbour notification should be carried out.

 

In practice, the increased number of applications, the increased awareness of the general public, and the potential for scrutiny by the Local Government Ombudsman has led to a situation where effectively we have adopted a ‘belt and braces’ approach, but this is now proving to be time consuming, wasteful in terms of resources and, in the vast majority of cases, unnecessary.

 

The present difficulties can be summarised in the following terms:-

 

·         The significant increase in the preparation of site notices which involves generating, copying, laminating, map preparation and placing on site by an individual employed on a temporary contract as there are insufficient resources within the Development Control Team to undertake this task

·         The significant increase in the number of neighbour notification letters sent out by the Administration Team, which in some cases, can amount to 30/40 individual letters in connection with a single development and anything up to 400 letters in total in a week.

 

In all the circumstances your officers consider that this Council should adhere more closely to the requirements of the relevant regulations, rather than exceeding the requirements.  Reviewing the policy and developing a new procedure will effectively mean that the vast majority of applications are the subject of a site notice(s) or neighbour notification but are unlikely to be the subject of both forms of publicity.

 

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

 

When this matter was last under consideration just over two years ago, the Development Control Manager included a warning note to the effect that a more comprehensive publicity procedure would be a substantial administrative task and that the time taken in the preparation and display of up to 70 notices each week would have an impact on available resources.

 

The increasing workload now means that 70 or more site notices per week has become the norm; the job of posting these notices has had to be outsourced at a cost and the Support Team is preparing and sending out several hundred neighbour notification letters per week.

 

OPTIONS

 

1.      To continue with the present arrangements set out in the policy document approved in July 2001.

2.      To continue with the present arrangements with appropriate amendments to the policy in respect of the use of site notices and neighbour notification and incorporate those changes in an amended policy with guidance notes for officers.

3.      To continue with the present arrangements but carry out a fundamental review of publicity procedures and then incorporate them into a new policy.

 

CONCLUSION

 

In my view, the present arrangements are more than satisfactory inasmuch as the Council, as Local Planning Authority, already go beyond the basic requirements of Article 8 of the Town & Country Planning (General Development Procedure) Order 1995, and the advice and guidance contained in Circular 15/92.

 

However, the operation of this procedure over the last two years, in combination with a number of other factors, including the increased number of applications, means that the present arrangements need to be carefully examined, because at this moment in time, there is a significant over-commitment in terms of cost and resources and there is clearly a need for  professional officers to be more circumspect in deciding what is the most appropriate publicity  for each individual application

 

On this basis I am recommending support Option 2 and agree to amend the approved policy.

 

 

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

 

To continue with the present arrangements with appropriate amendments to the policy in  respect of the use of site notices and neighbour notification and incorporate those changes in an amended policy with guidance notes for officers

 

 

 

BACKGROUND PAPERS

 

Report to Development Control Committee dated 24th July 2001

Policy document  (Publicity for Planning Applications)

 

 

Contact Point:  Chris Hougham – Development Control Manager (Tel 823565)         

 

 

ANDREW ASHCROFT

HEAD OF PLANNING SERVICES