SUBMITTING A PLANNING APPLICATION

Once it has been established that Planning Permission is required i.e. that the Development is not exempt under the guidelines laid down in the legislation contained mainly in the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995, an appropriate submission must be made to the Local Planning Authority.

The Application

Online Submissions
The Council is able to receive Planning applications online via the Planning Portal.

Alternatively, the appropriate application must be made to the Planning Department. The completed application should include five copies of Plans and Diagrams, and any other relevant supporting information required for the type of application. The additional copies of the plans and supporting information are needed for purposes of consultation with various statutory bodies and also form the basis of the working file which is subsequently assigned to a Planning Officer.

The Guide and checklist included with the application forms provides more detailed instruction for the necessary supporting documentation and plans required as a part of the application. The Planning Department will also advise where the necessary Ordnance Survey Maps can be obtained.

The application fee must be paid before the application can be determined. There is no fee payable for listed building consent. In addition, fees may not be payable in other circumstances, i.e. in request of a re-submission following the determination of an application. The Planning Portal provides a useful tool for calculating the correct planning application fee.

Fees are set by Government and are either set a set rate or based on the area of the proposal depending on the type of application.

The application will be checked on receipt to ensure that all details are correct and the necessary documents are enclosed. Once an application is deemed complete an acknowledgement is sent and the application entered onto the computerised application system and the consultation and publicity period starts from the specific publicity date. The details are placed in a Planning Register together with the related plans and can be inspected by the Public. A weekly list of all applications will be forwarded to all Councillors, local newspapers and several local libraries together with certain interested bodies and organisations.

Site notices are placed and notification letters generally sent to parties with boundaries directly abutting to the prospective development. Any one wishing to make a comment on the application has 21 days from the publicity date to put these in writing to the Planning Authority in order that they can be considered as a part of the decision process.

The Parish and Town Councils are also notified and as part of a local courtesy agreement have a copy of the plans and application forwarded to them.

As stated the planning application is allocated to an appropriate case officer. This is determined by the nature/complexity of the application and may ultimately influence the period of time taken to reach a decision.

The site will be inspected by the Officer any further consultations / negotiations carried out and a recommendation drafted.

For relatively simple applications a decision can be made once the statutory 21 days have passed and will be undertaken by the Case Officer and Team leader for the relevant area, under the powers delegated to the Director of Environment Services the Head of Planning Services and the Development Control Manager.

In the case of any objections being received the Case Officer will refer to the Local Member for the relevant area who will have 7 days to respond either by way of confirming the comments of the Case Officer or recommending that the application should be sent to *Committee for consideration.

Many decisions involve discussion before being made and may be delayed by the need to negotiate e.g. improve design of building or the need to obtain advice from the necessary consultants.

The Development Control Committee meet currently on a four weekly basis to hear any Planning Applications which may require their consideration before a decision can be made. These applications may be contentious or large developments (a view will be taken at the outset as to whether the case will go before Committee for large developments). The Committee is made up of 14 elected Members who hear the views of the Public and the reports of the Planning Officers. A decision will then follow a debate between members on the application. Committee Agenda’s and Minutes can be viewed online.

Decisions take into account the provisions of the Island Plan, Supplementary Planning Guidance and Central Government Planning Policy Guidance and Statements.

There are 2 categories of decision:
Approval – with any conditions clearly stated together with reasons.
Refusal – again with reasons clearly stated.
Site Inspection by members, prior to a decision being made. Decision could be deferred for negotiation.

The Decision Notice will be forwarded to the Applicant/Agent. Works must commence within a specified time limit after which this will lapse. Once approval has been granted it will be necessary to advise the Commencement Officer of Planning Services when works are due to start and the relevant paperwork or notification for any Building Control Regulations must be completed.

An appeal is made to the Planning Inspectorate who are a part of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Only the applicant can make the appeal. The completed appeals paperwork must be received within 6 months of the Local Planning Authority’s (LPA) decision or within 3 months of the end of the decision period if a decision hasn’t been made. If the paperwork isn’t received within this period and there are no exceptional reasons for this then the appeal will not be accepted.

For further information on appeals click here.


Further Assistance
Should you require further help or assistance with your application please contact our Customer Information Team.