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Making a planning application

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 through the Planning Portal (This link will open in a new window). The Portal also provides a comprehensive source of planning information, including links to the Planning Inspectorate which deals with appeals. Alternatively you can download the application forms from our website.

Will I be able to discuss my application and negotiate amendments once it has been formally submitted?
Not normally. The purpose of 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?
Find out further details about our pre-application advice service. Alternatively you can listen to a range of automated advice by dialling 0300 100 0041.

Submission of the application
When an application is received any fee provided is immediately banked and recorded on our financial system. The application will then be examined by our Validation Team to ensure that it contains all the necessary information and drawings to describe the development. 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.

Information on the validation requirements for planning applications.

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 in meeting 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 called the Surrey Hills Design Guide.

The Council has prepared an advice note on Affordable Housing which sets out its detailed requirements.

We have waste and recycling materials storage and collection standards to ensure that adequate facilities are provided on development sites.

The Council also expects compliance with its Renewable energy requirements to be demonstrated as part of any new build proposals.

The Council will expect these standards to be met when considering planning applications received.

Processing the application
If the application is complete it will be formally registered and allocated to a Planning Case Officer. 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 urged to set out in full all the matters upon which they wish the Council to determine their application,
including 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. In most cases applications will be determined as submitted otherwise they can be withdrawn and re-submitted with amendments, sometimes as a "free go".

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.

Where an application is referred to the Planning 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.

Determining the Application
When considering an application for planning permission account is taken of the policies in the Development Plan. Most issues can be considered as part of deciding whether a planning application should be allowed or refused. However, the Courts have held that certain issues are not planning matters. These issues are:

• the character of the applicant
• land ownership
• private rights
• restrictive covenants
• property values
• competition
• loss of a view

Most other issues are capable of being material to the consideration of a planning application, but not all issues carry equal weight and the Council may not agree with all the issues raised. The most important considerations are the policies in the development plan (This link will open in a new window).

Most applications are not decided by the Planning Committee, but by officers using delegated powers. Anyone can approach their Ward Councillor to ask for an application to be referred to the Planning Committee. This will be at the discretion of the Director of Planning, in consultation with the Committee Chairman.

To find out if an application is being reported to Committee:

• Call the automated telephone service on 0300 100 0041 HOTKEY 2 one week before the Committee date
• Sign up for News Direct emails
• Follow TandridgeDC via Twitter
• Sign up to planning email alerts (This link will open in a new window) for applications

Committee meeting dates are listed on the Planning Committee section of our website. The meetings start at 7.30pm and agendas are published a week before.

Please check the website or automated telephone service before travelling for a meeting. Occasionally there are late changes to the agenda, or a meeting may be cancelled. Full details including public speaking arrangements can be heard by calling 0300 100 0041 HOTKEY 2 or on the planning applications section of our website.

Most applications are considered within the statutory 8 week period (or 13 weeks in the case of major applications or 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 prescribed statutory period.

How can I find out about decisions?

• Search by application number (This link will open in a new window)
• Sign up to planning email alerts for applications
• View decisions on the Committee (This link will open in a new window) section of our website

For automated telephone information about decisions, call 0300 100 0041 HOTKEY 3.

Rights of appeal
Only the applicant has a right of appeal against the refusal of planning permission usually within 6 months of the decision (but only 3 months for
householder proposals or 8 weeks for advertisements). The appeal is made to the Planning Inspectorate (This link will open in a new window) who are based in Bristol. Forms for making an appeal are available on the Planning Inspectorate's Web Site, together with other information.

Related Pages:

Planning applications    Consultation process (Pages)

Planning application forms (Pages)

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