Planning Applications
Role of the Parish Council with regards
Local Planning Applications
There are currently two key roles:-
1. To represent the best interests of the parish and its residents.
This may require parish councillors to take a wider parochial view than might be taken by an individual resident and also to take a longer term/balanced view of the arguments for and against.
The National Association of Local Councils [NALC] suggests “your [the Parish Council’s] goal is not only to convince the Borough Councillors that you have a case in planning terms, but to demonstrate the support your case has in the local community. Planning officers are mainly interested in the planning arguments, but the councillors will often give weight to wider views. Planning is not a science and Councillors may judge the issues differently from officers.”
2. To mediate between parties and to try to help them reach a conclusion that is mutually acceptable.
Powers of Hannington Parish Council
The Parish Council has only two powers in relation to individual planning applications:-
* To require the local planning authority to inform the Parish Council of ANY relevant planning applications, and,
* To require the local planning authority “to take into account” the Parish Council’s representations.
What Representations can a Parish Council (or any resident) take?
NALC suggests there are FIVE approaches that can be taken. Your Parish Council has adopted these as the basis for any communication with the Planning Authority:-
i. Support the application (because it will have benefits for the local area, either now or in the long term);
ii. Support the application, BUT ask for details of the proposed development to be reconsidered and changed;
iii. Take no action, since the proposal’s overall effect would be neutral or of little relevance;
iv. Register an Objection to the application, BUT suggest action that could be taken to address your objection, such as amending the proposal or attaching planning conditions or a planning obligation; or
v. Request that the application be refused permission, because of its adverse effects, which can’t be dealt with satisfactorily by using conditions or objections.
The Planning Authority MUST take into account the representations received from the Parish Council, but….
As already mentioned, the requirements in law are for the Borough Council to notificy the Parish Council of ALL local planning applications, and to take the representations from the Parish Council into account. This ‘taking into account’ is not the same as ‘consultation’ which takes place with, for example, the county planning authority, the highway authority, Environment Agency, English Heritage and others. ‘Taking into account’ does not mean that the local planning authority will necessarily decide an application as the Parish Council has indicated it feels it should be decided. This is for several reasons:
* The local planning authority is only entitled to take into account planning matters. The comments of Parish Councils are sometimes not on planning issues.
* The local planning authority will receive advice from their professional officers on how the application should be dealt with. A Parish Council does not usually receive such professional advice.
* The local planning authority must take into account the representations of others apart from the Parish Council, especially the observations of the consultees, both the statutory consultees and other officers of the Borough Council as well as neighbours of the developments, the applicant, etc. The Parish Council does not necessarily have information on the content of these other representations.
Whilst the representations of the Parish Council are important and appreciated by the Borough Council they are not necessarily entitled to any more weight than any other representation and indeed will be given less weight than the observations of the statutory consultees. For example, a consultation response from the Highways Department of Hampshire County Council on an application may not have any adverse comment on the access proposed for a particular development onto a highway. The Parish Council may take the view that the access is dangerous. Members of the planning authority may question their officers about such a divergence of view, but the highway authority’s view should normally prevail, because if there is an appeal the Planning Authority must be able to support the reasons for its decision.
I hope the above has helped to explain the role and responsibilities of the Parish Council.
1. To represent the best interests of the parish and its residents.
This may require parish councillors to take a wider parochial view than might be taken by an individual resident and also to take a longer term/balanced view of the arguments for and against.
The National Association of Local Councils [NALC] suggests “your [the Parish Council’s] goal is not only to convince the Borough Councillors that you have a case in planning terms, but to demonstrate the support your case has in the local community. Planning officers are mainly interested in the planning arguments, but the councillors will often give weight to wider views. Planning is not a science and Councillors may judge the issues differently from officers.”
2. To mediate between parties and to try to help them reach a conclusion that is mutually acceptable.
Powers of Hannington Parish Council
The Parish Council has only two powers in relation to individual planning applications:-
* To require the local planning authority to inform the Parish Council of ANY relevant planning applications, and,
* To require the local planning authority “to take into account” the Parish Council’s representations.
What Representations can a Parish Council (or any resident) take?
NALC suggests there are FIVE approaches that can be taken. Your Parish Council has adopted these as the basis for any communication with the Planning Authority:-
i. Support the application (because it will have benefits for the local area, either now or in the long term);
ii. Support the application, BUT ask for details of the proposed development to be reconsidered and changed;
iii. Take no action, since the proposal’s overall effect would be neutral or of little relevance;
iv. Register an Objection to the application, BUT suggest action that could be taken to address your objection, such as amending the proposal or attaching planning conditions or a planning obligation; or
v. Request that the application be refused permission, because of its adverse effects, which can’t be dealt with satisfactorily by using conditions or objections.
The Planning Authority MUST take into account the representations received from the Parish Council, but….
As already mentioned, the requirements in law are for the Borough Council to notificy the Parish Council of ALL local planning applications, and to take the representations from the Parish Council into account. This ‘taking into account’ is not the same as ‘consultation’ which takes place with, for example, the county planning authority, the highway authority, Environment Agency, English Heritage and others. ‘Taking into account’ does not mean that the local planning authority will necessarily decide an application as the Parish Council has indicated it feels it should be decided. This is for several reasons:
* The local planning authority is only entitled to take into account planning matters. The comments of Parish Councils are sometimes not on planning issues.
* The local planning authority will receive advice from their professional officers on how the application should be dealt with. A Parish Council does not usually receive such professional advice.
* The local planning authority must take into account the representations of others apart from the Parish Council, especially the observations of the consultees, both the statutory consultees and other officers of the Borough Council as well as neighbours of the developments, the applicant, etc. The Parish Council does not necessarily have information on the content of these other representations.
Whilst the representations of the Parish Council are important and appreciated by the Borough Council they are not necessarily entitled to any more weight than any other representation and indeed will be given less weight than the observations of the statutory consultees. For example, a consultation response from the Highways Department of Hampshire County Council on an application may not have any adverse comment on the access proposed for a particular development onto a highway. The Parish Council may take the view that the access is dangerous. Members of the planning authority may question their officers about such a divergence of view, but the highway authority’s view should normally prevail, because if there is an appeal the Planning Authority must be able to support the reasons for its decision.
I hope the above has helped to explain the role and responsibilities of the Parish Council.