Planning committee public participation scheme

Many Local Planning Authorities permit members of the public to address the Committee about a particular proposal prior to the consideration of the application. Procedures vary across the country but all are designed to provide as fair an opportunity as possible for a balance of views to be provided between those supporting and those opposing an application.

Members of the public are permitted to address the Planning Committee and the following protocols relate to the procedures adopted.

Protocols

• in accordance with the Council Procedure Rules, any person (including Councillors, Parish representatives, applicants, objectors and supporters) may seek to address the Planning Committee by making representations in relation to any matter which appears on the agenda for that meeting. 
• any person who wishes to address the Committee should request to do so in writing to the Committee Services team no later than 0:01am (one minute past midnight) three working days before the date of the Planning Committee, providing a written summary of the issues they intend to raise (together with copies of any illustrative material). A person registering to speak is required to supply their name, address, contact phone number and the planning application or agenda item they wish to speak on
• Committee Services will acknowledge all requests to speak within two working days of receipt of that request. If your request is received outside of the Council’s office hours, the date of receipt will be taken as the next working day. If you do not receive an acknowledgement either within this time frame or before the Planning Committee if sooner, please call Committee Services who will be pleased to help. Anyone who has registered to speak on a specific planning application or enforcement agenda item should try to arrive at least 15 minutes before the start of the meeting. 

The following procedure will apply

• the Planning Officer will present the application outlining what the proposal is about and identifying the issues relevant to the application and concluding with a recommendation
• for the area committees public speakers will then address the committee. The public participation element will allow up to three objectors and three supporters to speak on a particular item. The supporters will speak first followed by the objectors.  Furthermore, each speaker will be allowed up to five minutes, therefore this will result up to a maximum of 15 minutes for objectors and 15 minutes for supporters, resulting a maximum public participation time limit of up to 30 minutes for each item. If a ward member or a parish / town councillor wishes to speak on an item this will be in addition to the three objectors/supporters
• for the strategic committee public speakers will address the committee. The public participation element will allow up to five objectors and five supporters to speak on a particular item.  The supporters will speak first followed by the objectors. Furthermore, each speaker will be allowed up to five minutes, therefore this will result up to a maximum of 25 minutes for objectors and 25 minutes for supporters, resulting a maximum public participation time limit of up to 50 minutes for each item. If a ward member or a parish / town councillor wishes to speak on an item this will be in addition to the three objectors/supporters
• if more than three (or five for the Strategic committee) people apply to speak either as a supporter or opponent, places will be allocated on a first come first served basis.  In exceptional cases the Chair of the Committee will have discretion to decide the maximum number of speakers. (A larger group should consider electing spokespersons) However other neighbour comments will be reported in the normal way in the officer’s committee report.  The Chairman may refuse an individual’s application to speak if it becomes clear that they would be doubly represented at the meeting
• with respect to the content of the public presentations they should be limited to purely planning considerations and should not make statements of a personal or slanderous nature, be abusive or interrupt other speakers, or the Committee, during their debate. If a speaker fails to abide by this requirement, they will not be permitted to address the Committee any further and will be required to leave the Chamber
• Information on how to apply can be obtained by contacting the Planning Business Support Team by telephone on 0300 373 3300. Please refer to the Agenda for each meeting for the relevant Committee Services contact details
• if an application is deferred after an Objector/ Supporter has spoken they will not be allowed to speak again when the matter is referred back to Committee for a decision, unless any new information has been submitted. The objector/supporter would be limited to speak only in respect of the new information
• planning officers will be given the opportunity to respond to any of the public speaker’s comments
• the opportunity will then be given for the officer to be questioned by the Committee
• if a member of the Committee has a question, that is materially relevant to the determination of the application, where the officer does not hold the information requested, but a person who has spoken on the application may do so. The Chair may use his/her discretion to ask the relevant speaker to provide the information requested if he or she is able to do so, or allow a short recess to allow the officer to research the matter
• the Committee will then debate the proposals and come to a decision. 

Images provided by an objector/supporter will not normally be allowed to be presented.

If, due to unforeseen circumstances, a speaker is unable to attend or address the Committee then they may appoint someone to speak on their behalf, subject to the approval of the Chairman of the Planning Committee and the relevant authority being provided to the representative

Please note: an agenda item will not be deferred if someone who has registered to speak fails to arrive in time for the item to be considered.

Where a speaker is not present in the room when it is their time to speak they may lose their right to speak on the application.