Application process for minerals and waste developments

Planning Case Officer

A 'Planning Case Officer' is appointed to deal with an application. Applicants or agents will be given their contact details so if you have any queries you can contact them.

They will assess your proposed development against local and national planning policies.

Notification and consultation

Once the application is valid, we notify neighbours and put up a ‘site notice’ close to the site. There might also be a press notice.

The site notices are displayed for a minimum of 28 days and the neighbours have 28 days to make comments,

We consult the local parish council on most applications. We may also consult specialist external organisations (like the Environment Agency or Natural England) when necessary. They have 21 days to comment. Their responses are published on our website.

Please note all Minerals and Waste Planning applications have a 13 week turnaround time.

Pre decision amended plans

Sometimes minor amendments to the proposed scheme are received, either because we ask for amended plans in order to make the development more acceptable or because you may have a change of mind or circumstances.

Amended plans will be published on our website alongside the original plans. In some cases we might need to go back out to consultation.

If we think the amendments are acceptable the original plans will be replaced and the amendments will be detailed in the 'decision notice'.

Officer recommendation

Most decisions are made at officer level in line with our scheme of delegation. Such delegated decisions involve review and sign-off by a senior officer who is not the Planning Case Officer.

Generally only major and complex applications will be decided by planning committee.

Time scales for making decisions on applications

National Government has established statutory time limits for determining a planning application (GOV.UK).

We usually make one of two types of decision:

• granted with conditions
• refused

Granted with conditions

Although you now have planning permission you might still need to maintain contact with ourselves. This is because most planning permissions are subject to conditions requiring more detailed information like, a landscaping scheme, detailed surface water drainage scheme and samples of materials proposed.

Some conditions mean that you have to submit extra details before work can start. We will check that you have met the conditions and if so approve the details, this is called 'formal discharge'. It is your responsibility to check if conditions need to be ‘formally discharged' by the Planning Authority..

The details of how you have met the conditions must be submitted on the 'Approval of details reserved by condition' form together with the current application fee.  These will also be published on the Council’s website.

You can submit the form online through the Planning Portal

If there is more than one condition to be  discharged, you can apply to deal with them all on one application and pay a single fee. If you choose to discharge conditions separately each application must have a separate application form and fee.

If you wish to change or remove any of the conditions attached to the decision, you can submit an ‘application for removal or variation of a condition following grant of planning permission (Section 73)’

You can find the forms online through the Planning Portal.

Alternatively you can submit an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.

Refusal

When an application is refused, the applicant can appeal to the Planning Inspectorate (GOV.UK)

Appeals must be submitted directly to the Planning Inspectorate in accordance with strict time limits. Only the person who submitted the application can appeal. There is no third party right of appeal.

Post-decision, non material amended plans

Sometimes we receive amended plans after the decision has been made. This usually happens where the applicant has had a change of mind or the site conditions mean the original plans cannot be carried out.

If the changes are minor and acceptable we will consider these changes on an application for a non-material amendment.

If we approve the changes a new planning permission will not be issued. The original permission still stands and the two documents should be read together.

If the proposed changes are significant we will ask for a completely new planning application.