Planning Committee and Meetings

Determining planning applications during the coronavirus outbreak

Planning committee meetings were initially suspended at the start of the coronavirus outbreak. The Government has now issued new regulations which will allow us to hold virtual public meetings until such time as it is safe to start meeting in person again.

Officers and members of the planning committee will be able to take part in these meetings through the use of Zoom. These meetings will be broadcast live on our Youtube channel, so the public can watch the debate and decisions being taken. 

The public will not be allowed to attend these meetings to help limit the spread of the virus, but people can still make representations and can speak to the committee using the public speaking facility. See the public speaking and coronavirus section of this page for more information.

Decisions on other planning applications will continue to be made as normal.

Officers will  be carrying out limited site visits at this time but we will still be requesting  applicants provide photographic and/or video evidence as may be necessary. If insufficient evidence is made available to allow officers to adequately assess the applications, we will seek to agree extensions of time with applicants, to deal with their planning applications.

Officers will not themselves be placing site notices at this time, but will ask applicants to display these and provide evidence to confirm this. 

Agenda & Minutes

North Area Meetings and MinutesSouth Area Meetings and Minutes

How does the planning committee process work ?

pdf Guide to the planning committee process (474 KB)

Decisions on the majority of planning applications are made by officers under "delegated powers".  The more major, complex and controversial applications are generally decided by the Planning Committee.

The North Area Planning Committee meet every 1st Wednesday of the month (unless otherwise stated) and has 16 members. The South Area Planning Committee meet every 3rd Wednesday of the month (unless otherwise stated) and has 22 members.  It decides planning applications in accordance with agreed policies and enforces planning decisions when these are not complied with.

You will normally be able to view a copy of the report to Committee one week before the meeting.  The minutes are then normally available one week after the meeting.

Representations

We will try and ensure that all comments received relating to a planning application are reported, where relevant, to the Council's Planning Committee.  Also it may be possible to report to the Planning Committee comments, letters or emails received on the day of the Committee meeting.  We strongly recommend against the submission of comments or documents close to the start of Planning Committee meetings.

Public Speaking and coronavirus

Due to the coronavirus outbreak public speaking at planning committee meetings was initially suspended. However it has now been agreed that members of the public can speak to the committee by registering in advance.

If you want to speak at a Planning Committee meeting please register in the normal way by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

We will then advise you about how we can make sure your views are recorded and represented to the committee.

Letters of support or objection will also continue to be taken into account.

You can still only speak on items which are due to be determined by the Planning Committee.

Advice to Public Speakers at Planning Committee re. visual aids/additional material

Visual aids such as photographs or plans, or written material cannot be handed out, circulated or displayed at any Planning Committee meeting. 

For more information download our pdf Guide for Participants Public Speaking at Planning Committee (517 KB)