21 November 2008The Council's planners will:
Where relevant the planners will:
Who will deal with your enquiry?
A planning officer will be allocated to a particular enquiry. It should also be noted that the officer providing the pre application advice may not be the officer that undertakes any future planning application.
If the enquiry relates to a major proposal or where a meeting is needed we will contact you to confirm whether you have submitted sufficient information to allow us to provide you with advice and, if not, will ask you for additional information. We will arrange a suitable date and time for a meeting, an initial charge for 1 hour will be made to cover pre meeting research. The officer will assess the complexity of the case and contact you to agree the likely final charge and seek written agreement from you on the estimated charge. Following a meeting and written response an invoice will then be sent with payment required within 21 days of the date of the invoice
The timing of the meeting will depend on the complexity of the scheme and the amount of work that will be needed prior to the meeting. Attendance of other officers at the meeting, including specialist advisers, will be decided by the case officer.
Time will be allocated by officers across the department to undertake meetings. There is a finite planning officer resource and it may not be possible to accommodate all requested meetings. If there is difficulty in providing an officer for a meeting the enquirer will be told at the earliest opportunity and advised of the possible alternatives (e.g. written response, delayed meeting etc).
The case officer will determine if a meeting is appropriate and will only be undertaken when written confirmation that the fee will be paid is received.
Generally it will not be possible to undertake meetings with officers for house extensions, and small proposals. All pre-application advice in relation to these proposals will be given in writing.
Timescales
We will seek to answer any written enquiries for householder development and other small scale development in 15 working days of receipt and we will aim to answer more complex and major proposals (incl. government minor and major categories) in 20 working days.
If you have a major and/or complex proposal where a meeting is considered to be appropriate we will seek to ensure that a meeting date is offered within the 15 days of receiving the enquiry and a written response provided within 5 working days of the meeting.
Consultations
Pre-application enquiries on major proposals will be assessed and a Development Team approach considered. The extent of the Development Team will be advised at the initial stage. Pre application consultations may be undertaken following initial consideration of the enquiry when this is considered essential by the planning officer.
Consultation will only be undertaken on minor proposals where this is considered essential by the planning officer.
No consultations will be undertaken as part of the pre application enquiries in relation to house extensions or other small proposals.
