Planning Protocol
Adopted September 2012
Reviewed without change June 2016
Reviewed without change October 2019
Reviewed without change February 2022
1. In accordance with Standing Orders, the Council will nominate up three councillors to act as a planning working party.
2. The Parish Clerk will examine the weekly list from WLDC and any notifications from other relevant authorities and record in the Planning Register any that affect the Parish. The clerk will forward the weekly list / other notifications by email or other agreed means to the planning working party members. The clerk will also forward details of any applications that do affect the parish to all councillors.
3. In the event of a working party member holding an interest in an application under consideration, he or she will notify the clerk immediately and the clerk will pass the application to another councillor for consideration as an ad-hoc member of the working party.
4. Working party members will examine any relevant applications individually or as a group in order to determine if there are any immediate objections or matters of concern. Any requests for additional information in clarification of the application will be passed to the Clerk for communication to WC or the appropriate authority.
5. All relevant applications will be placed before the full council at the next Parish Council (PC) meeting for consideration, along with any comments / concerns already identified by the planning working group. Should there be insufficient time for comments to be submitted before the next available PC meeting then the working group may opt to either request an extension from WLDC or appropriate authority OR to call an ad-hoc meeting of the full council in order to consider the application(s) fully.
6. If there is disagreement between members with respect of any objections / comments then a majority decision will prevail. Each councillor, whether a member of the working party or not, is at liberty to raise their own objections/comments as a private citizen but may not imply that their views represent those of the council in so doing.
7. Should council determine that an application is of sufficient gravity it may convene a public meeting in order to gather the views of parishioners with respect to said application.
8. All objections/comments agreed by Council will be communicated via the clerk who will keep a record of such communications, any response received and the outcome of the application.
Overleaf is a simplified workflow process diagram.
