The Planning Committee or the Planning Manager make the decision on whether to grant planning permission.
What the Planning Committee decides
The Planning Committee make the decision for:
- major applications, which are large-scale developments that will have big impacts on the town and its residents.
- smaller developments where there is a lot of interest from residents.
What a major planning application is
The Planning Committee discuss all planning applications for major development. The definition of a major development is:
- a development of ten or more dwellings or 0.5 hectares where the number of new dwellings is not known.
- a development of buildings of 1,000 square metres of floorspace or development on sites of one hectare or more
- changes of use involving the creation of ten or more residential accommodations or non-residential accommodation exceeding one thousand square metres or more
- working of minerals and waste development
When the Planning Committee make the decision for smaller developments
When residents feel very strongly about a proposed development, they may talk to their ward councillor about it to ask them to “call the application in.”
Ward councillors or “ward members” can 'call in' to Planning Committee any planning application.
To call in a planning application to Planning Committee a ward member must follow these steps:
- The ward member will write to the planning case officer to let them know the concerns which they have about the application. They must do this within 7 days from the end of the resident’s consultation.
- The ward member will then have a meeting with the Planning Case Officer or the Planning Manager to discuss the concerns.
If the ward member still has concerns about the planning application, the planning manager will refer the planning application to the Planning Committee. At the Planning Committee meeting the ward member will have a chance to discuss their concerns with the committee members.
What the planning manager decides
The planning manager decides all other planning applications.
Under the council's scheme of delegation, the planning manager is responsible for making the final decision whether to grant permission for any application which the Planning Committee do not decide.
The planning manager will make the final decision on whether to grant permission if the decision is to
- approve an application which complies with existing approved statutory statements of policy and comply with non-statutory policy guidelines, except in the case of non-material amendments.
- refuse an application which does not comply with existing approved statutory or non-statutory statements of policy.
The decision the planning manager makes will be in accordance with the Town & Country Planning Act 1990 and the Town & Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2010.
What a material variation is
A material variation is when the change proposed to the approved development would affect the approved development in a significant or substantial way. It could include changes to the overall scale, bulk, height, visual appearance, or overall nature of the already approved development.
The planning manager will decide whether to allow a material variation. The planning manager will use case law to explain their decision.
What a non-material amendment is
A non-material amendment is when the change proposed is not significantly or substantially different. A non-material amendment would not affect the scale or overall nature of the development which has been approved. This means it would not ‘materially’ amend the approved development.
The planning manager will decide whether to allow a non-material change. The planning manager will use case law to explain their decision.