The Council has a duty to consider all valid planning applications it receives, regardless of whether or not they reflect adopted policies. Pre-application discussions (or an exchange of correspondence) with prospective developers/applicants and/or their agents are strongly encouraged.
Applications can now be submitted on-line to the Council via our online planning system or through the Planning Portal. The Portal also provides a comprehensive source of planning information, including links to the Planning Inspectorate which deals with appeals.
Will I be able to discuss my application and negotiate amendments once it has been formally submitted?
Not normally. The purpose of such pre-application advice is to ensure that applications are as comprehensive as possible before formal submission. The need for amendment during the process should therefore be minimised and the Council will maintain its policy of not normally allowing negotiation, discussion or amendment of submitted applications in order to meet statutory handling deadlines.
Where can I get more information?
If you wish to discuss a proposal which is likely to attract a charge for pre-application discussions you can contact Mr Geoffrey Finch on 01883 732885.
Submission and determination of the application
Most planning and listed building applications must now be accompanied by a design and access statement. The Council has prepared Design and Access Statements Guidance Notes to assist applicants and their agents meet these requirements. If you are making a planning application within the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty there is further leaflet explaining how you should go about this Surrey Hills Design Guide.
We have adopted Waste and recycling materials storage and collection standards to assist developers in ensuring that adequate facilities are provided as part of development sites. The Council will expect these standards to be met when determining planning applications.
The Council also expects compliance with its Renewable energy requirements to be demonstrated as part of any new build proposals and its Planning application Local Validation requirements where approprate.
When an application is received by the Council any fee provided is immediately cashed. The application will then be examined to ensure that it contains all the necessary information and that the drawings are accurate. If it does not, we will write to you and tell you what further information is required before your application can be registered as valid.
If the application is complete it will be registered and allocated to a Planning Case Officer to process. You will receive an acknowledgement letter advising you of the date by which you can expect a decision and the name of the Officer dealing with it. The Case Officer is responsible for carrying out all the necessary consultations; visiting the site (whether accompanied or not); and making a recommendation for decision. The Case Officer will not normally contact you or your agent during the processing of your application unless clarification of some particular detail is required. Neither will the Case Officer contact you to advise of the progress of the application, or responses from consultations, or his/her recommendation.
All applicants and their agents are therefore advised to set out in full the matters upon which they wish the Council to determine their application, including all relevant drawings and supporting documents. The Council will rarely enter into negotiations or accept changes to a scheme once the application has been registered, particularly where those changes would require further consultation, and in most cases applications will be determined as submitted unless they are withdrawn.
Most applications are determined on behalf of the Council by the Director of Planning or other designated Officers under the Council's Delegation Scheme. If an application is referred to the Development Control Committee for decision you will receive a further letter giving details of these arrangements and inviting you to attend and speak at the meeting.
Most applications are considered within the statutory 8 week period (or 13 weeks in the case of major applications/16 weeks in the case of applications accompanied by an Environmental Statement) . The Council will not usually seek to extend the determination period. However, it is open to an applicant to appeal against "non-determination" at the expiration of the prescibed statutory period.
Public Consultations
The Council believes in widely publicising all planning applications in order that members of the public, including Parish Councils, may have an opportunity to comment. When you receive your acknowledgement letter, you will also be asked to display a site notice. Where there is a statutory requirement for a site notice to be displayed the Council will arrange to do this.
The Council will send letters to the properties adjoining the application site advising where details of the proposals may be seen and inviting comments, usually within 21 days. These may be submitted in writing, by email or via the Council's website. No decision will be made until all consultation/publicity periods have expired. However, any comments received after the period allowed but before a decision is made will still be taken into consideration.
The Council does not acknowledge receipt of any responses and will not enter into correspondence arising from comments received. However, all those responding will be advised of the Council's decision.
Where an application is referred to the Development Control Committee for decision there will be an opportunity for the applicant, an objector and the Parish Council to speak at the meeting before the Committee determines the application.
All replies are public documents which are available for inspection in the Planning Department under the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985 or may be viewed on the Council's website.
Rights of appeal
Only the applicant has a right of appeal against the refusal of planning permission within 6 months of the decision. The appeal is made to the Planning Inspectorate who are based in Bristol. Forms for making an appeal are available on the Planning Inspectorate's Web Site, together with other information.
