4. PLANNING APPLICATIONS

4.1 The Council will continue to carry out consultation on all planning applications to meet (and exceed) the minimum requirements as set out in the Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) Order 1995. Appendix 4 shows a comparison of the minimum requirements for publicising planning applications and the Council’s current procedures.

Publicity

(i) Weekly lists

A list of all applications received is currently published and sent on a weekly basis to local newspapers, Citizens Advice Bureau, local libraries, Councillors, amenity groups and other interested organisations. Since summer 2005 these bodies have been able to access the weekly list electronically. The list is also posted on public notice boards and is available on the Council’s website.

(ii) Newspaper advertisements

Formal advertisements are placed in a local newspaper (currently The News).

(iii) Site notices

These notices will be displayed for 21 days on or close to the site of all planning applications which have been subject to a formal newspaper advertisement plus those involving: proposals significantly affecting a landscape setting; developments for which there is no easily identifiable neighbours; proposals introducing significant commercial activity in a predominantly residential area and proposals affecting trees subject to Tree Preservation Orders.

(iv) Neighbour notification

Individual notification letters will normally be sent to all affected neighbours. The number of neighbours notified will vary according to the size of the site and the type of development. Following the grant of planning permission, in instances where a proposal is amended in a ‘minor’ way without a new planning application being required, the Council will normally notify neighbours affected before a decision is reached as to whether the changes are acceptable unless the amendments are insignificant.

(v) Essential Service Providers

All new development needs access to essential services. The actual service provision companies that will be consulted will vary according to the size of the site and the type of development.

(vi) Availability of documents

All applications and appeals documents are available for inspection at the Havant Borough Civic Offices. Since summer 2005, applications have been available to view through the Council’s website.

Representations

4.2 Anyone can make comments on a planning application. Comments can be posted to the Council or respondents can complete the comment form available on the website. Representations must be made in writing and will be taken into account when the application is determined, however, account can only be taken of comments concerning planning issues. All representations will be acknowledged. Representations cannot be treated in confidence and will form part of the planning application file, which is available to view at the Civic Offices by the applicant and other members of the public.

What are relevant planning considerations?

4.3 The relevant issues in planning applications vary from case to case but the following matters are relevant planning considerations;

Development plan policies;
Government guidance and legislation;
Conservation of the built and natural environment;
Trees;
Design, layout and appearance;
Character of an area;
Pollution;
Highway safety and traffic;
Previous planning applications;
Flooding;
Loss of amenity (i.e. effect on outlook, privacy and daylight);
Other approved guidance (e.g. Council Strategies, Village Design Statements).

What are not relevant planning considerations?

4.4 The following are examples of matters which are not material planning considerations;

Property Values;
Private property rights;
Competition between businesses;
The applicants’ motives;
Matters covered by other legislation (e.g. building regulations, licensing, legal covenants);
Private disputes regarding land ownership or boundaries.

4.5 The majority of applications are dealt with under ‘delegated powers’. Under these powers the majority of applications are not considered by the Development Management Committee but are delegated to officers and will be determined by the Head of Development & Technical Services. Any requests to have an application dealt with by the Development Management Committee rather than by the officers using delegated powers will have to be made in writing before the end of the publicity period as notified in the weekly list of planning proposals relevant to the particular application. However, individuals are strongly advised to discuss the application with the Case Officer before making such a request in order to see if the intended Officer level decision is what they would have wished for or to see if their concerns are relevant or can be dealt with in another way.

4.6 If an application is to be considered by the Committee, by prior arrangement, individuals and applicants have the opportunity to speak at the Committee meeting where the decision is being taken.

Feedback

4.7 All written representations are acknowledged and a reply is sent out with the outcome of the decision. Decisions on planning applications are also published on the Council’s website. Furthermore, progress on recent major applications can also be followed in the Council’s quarterly magazine (Serving You). The ‘Making Plans’ section is a regular feature which sets out the major applications which have been received, permitted, refused and developments which are now under construction.

Appeals

4.8 If a planning application is refused by the Council, the applicant has the right of appeal. Appeals are determined by the Planning Inspectorate who will take all public representations into consideration, together with the appellant’s and the Council’s case.

Significant applications

4.9 Planning applications are categorised by Government as either major or minor. The SCI effectively creates a locally set category of planning application for the purposes of community involvement. This is what is now termed the ‘significant applications’.

N.B. Major development (as defined in The Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) Order 1995) includes residential proposals of 10 units or more, and/or having an area of 0.5 hectares or more; the provision of a building with a floor area of 1,000 square metres or more and development on a site of 1 hectare or more.

4.10 On significant applications the Council will seek to achieve more extensive community involvement than is the case with all minor applications and most major applications. The focus for this increased involvement will be on all three stages of the application process – pre-application, application and post-application. The Council will strongly encourage developers to undertake wider community involvement for applications which it considers are likely to have a significant impact on the local community. Failure by the developer to consult the community could lead to objections being made which could be material to the determination of the application. The aim of the process is to encourage discussion before a formal application is made and therefore to avoid unnecessary objections being made at a later stage. The Council has determined that the thresholds for what is considered to be a ‘significant’ application are as follows:

Residential - 50 units or more

Employment/Industrial - 5,000 square metres or more

Retail - 2,500 square metre or more

Leisure - 1,000 square metres or more

4.11 However, this is not prescriptive and the Council reserve the right to seek wider community involvement on other applications which do not fall within the ‘significant’ bracket if they consider that they are particularly sensitive or they will have a significant impact on the local community.

4.12 What we expect from the applicant

This statement does not seek to be prescriptive about the types of community involvement techniques that applicants should be using for different types of application and it does not discourage the use of innovative techniques. To guide the applicant, a range of consultation and communication techniques are set out in Table 1. Table 2 also illustrates the types of community involvement techniques which may be required for different types of applications at each stage of the process. Subject to the nature and scale of the proposal, applicants will be required to do some, or all of the suggested techniques The need for wider community consultation and the intentions of the developer with regard to involvement techniques will be discussed and agreed as part of pre-application discussions. The applicant will be expected to submit a statement with the application setting out what community involvement they have undertaken prior to finalising the proposals.

4.13 Community Boards and Residents’ Associations

Applicants will be particularly encouraged to make use of Community Boards and Residents Associations. Applicants for significant applications will be encouraged to present their ideas to the relevant Community Board and Resident Association before finalising their proposals and submitting a planning application. The Council will present any significant application to the relevant Community Board and Resident Association for comment. For applications falling within the ‘major’ category, but not exceeding the ‘significant’ threshold, the Council would expect applicants to notify the relevant Community Board and Resident Association of the application at submission stage. A copy of the planning application should be provided by the applicant on request and a planning officer from the Council would be available to attend group meetings to discuss the proposals if requested. These groups also have the opportunity to comment on all planning applications through the weekly list.

Table 2: Community consultation techniques for different types of applications.

Application type
	Consultation Techniques	Significant Applications	Major Applications	Minor/Other applications**
Pre-application	Press Release	Applicant
	Leaflets	Applicant
	Written Consultation	Applicant	Applicant
	Exhibitions/Displays	Applicant
	Planning/Community workshops	Applicant	Applicant
	Consultation with Community Boards and Residents Associations	Applicant	Applicant	Applicant
	Public meeting/presentations	Applicant	Applicant
Application	Consultation with Community Boards and Residents Associations	Applicant Council	Applicant Council	Applicant Council
	Neighbour Notification	Council*	Council*	Council*
	Site notice/press advert	Council*	Council*	Council*
	Press Release	Applicant	Applicant
	Leaflets	Applicant
	Written Consultation	Applicant	Applicant
	Exhibitions/Displays	Applicant
	Public meeting/presentations	Applicant	Applicant
	Serving You	Council	Council
	Council Website	Council*	Council*	Council*
	Citizens Panel	Council
Post-application	In instances where a proposal is amended in a ‘minor’ way without a new planning application being required, the Council will normally notify neighbours affected before a decision is reached as to whether the changes are acceptable unless the amendments are insignificant. More significant amendments to proposals would require a new planning application and therefore be subject to the Council’s publicity procedures for planning applications. The need for wider community consultation will be agreed with the Council during pre-application discussions.

*Denotes methods which are part of Havant Borough Council’s procedures for publicity on planning applications.

** Minor/other applications includes all other applications which do not fall within the ‘significant’ or ‘major’ categories such as proposals for 1-9 dwellings; buildings with a floor area of less than 1,000m²; change of use; householder development; advertisements; listed building consent; conservation area consent; certificate of lawfulness for existing use; certificate of lawfulness for proposed use.

Black Text = Will be required

Blue Text = May be required

4.14 Currently, for applications in Leigh Park, the views of the Residents Panel are taken into account in the determination of major planning applications. Development proposals in Leigh Park are unique within the Borough as there are no specific development allocations in the HBDWLP and proposals are expected to come forward through the Creating Quality Places project.

Havant Borough Council, Civic Centre Road, Havant, Hampshire PO9 2AX