Statement of Community Involvement Review
Statement of Community Involvement Review - Consultation Draft
9 - Planning Applications and Submissions
9.1 The Council deals with a variety of applications for planning approval. It carries out notification and publicity in accordance with the relevant statutory requirements as specified in legislation in force at the time using some or all of the following:
- Site notices
- Letters to adjacent local residents/businesses
- Press advertisements - including adverts for applications which are a departure from the development plan, require an Environmental Impact Assessment or involve listed buildings or conservation areas
- Weekly list of applications and details of planning applications on the Council's website
- Applications and plans published on the website
- Specific consultation or notification with statutory and non-statutory consultees
- Notification to Parish and Town Councils
9.2 To consult neighbouring residents and businesses, the Council is required to either send letters, or display site notices detailing the proposed development. However, as the Council places a high priority on getting people's views, it uses both of these methods. Letters are sent to the adjacent neighbours and, for larger proposals, a wider area depending on the scale of the proposed development. Consultation letters invite responses to be made within 21 days of the date of the letter. Site notices are displayed near the application site inviting comments within 21 days of the date of the site notice being put up. The results of any such consultation will be reported and taken into account in decisions made by, and on behalf of, the Council.
9.3 Where a press notice is required, the Council will place this in one of the local newspapers.
9.4 Further detailed information on consultation for different type of applications are provided in the table below:
Table 2 - Consultation methods for different types of proposed development
| Nature of proposed development | Relevant legislation | Statutory publicity | Publicity carried out by TDC |
| Application accompanied by an EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) Departure from the development plan | The Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) Order 2015 | LPA to advertise in local press Site notice to be displayed for 21 days Website | Press notice Website Site notice Neighbour notification to those who physically adjoin the site or wider area as appropriate |
| Major development:(Development of more than ten dwellings, or more than 1000m² of floorspace or on a site larger than 0.5ha) | The Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) Order 2015 | Press notice Site notice to be displayed for 21 days or neighbour notification Site notice if application affects the character or appearance of a conservation area or listed building Website | Press notice Website Site notice Neighbour notification to those who physically adjoin the site or wider area as appropriate |
| Minor development:(Development of ten or less dwellings, less than 1000m² floorspace or on a site less than 0.5ha) | The Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) Order 2015 | Site notice to be displayed for 21 days or neighbour notification Site notice and press notice if application affects the character or appearance of a conservation area or listed building Website | Press notice if application affects the character or appearance of a conservation area or listed building or if a departure from the local plan Website Site notice Neighbour notification to those who physically adjoin the site |
| Householder development | The Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) Order 2015 | Site notice to be displayed for 21 days or neighbour notification Site notice and press notice if application affects the character or appearance of a conservation area or listed building Website | Press notice if application affects the character or appearance of a conservation area or listed building Website Site notice Neighbour notification to those who physically adjoin the site |
| Change of use | The Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) Order 2015 | Site notice to be displayed for 21 days or neighbour notification Site notice and press notice if application affects the character or appearance of a conservation area or listed building Website | Press notice if application affects the character or appearance of a conservation area or listed building Website Site notice Neighbour notification to those who physically adjoin the site |
| Variation or removal of condition(s) attached to a previous approval | The Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) Order 2015 | Site notice to be displayed for 21 days or neighbour notification Site notice and press notice if application affects the character or appearance of a conservation area or listed building Website | Press notice if application affects the character or appearance of a conservation area or listed building or if a departure from the local plan Website Site notice Neighbour notification to those who physically adjoin the site and to those who commented on original application |
| Listed building consent | The Planning (Listed Buildings And Conservation Areas) Regulations 1990 | Press notice Site notice Website | Press notice Website Site notice Neighbour notification to those who physically adjoin the site |
| Consent to display advertisements | The Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 2007 | Nil | Website Site Notice if application affects the character or appearance of a conservation area or listed building |
| Applications for works to trees covered by tree preservation orders | The Town and Country Planning (Tree Preservation)(England) Regulations 2012 | Register of applications made available | Website with register of applications Site Notice |
| Notification of works to trees in a Conservation area | The Town and Country Planning Act 1990 Section 214 | Register of applications made available | Website with register of applications Site Notice |
| Telecommunications prior approval | The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 2015 Part 16 | Site notice to be displayed by LPA for 21 days or neighbour notification | Website Site notice Neighbour notification Press notice if proposal affects the character or appearance of a conservation area or proposal affects a listed building |
9.5 If an application is significantly amended during its consideration, the Council will send a further round of consultation letters to adjacent neighbours and to any additional people who have already written in with comments. A copy of the revised plans will also be made available on the website.
9.6 Copies of applications and accompanying plans available to view electronically at Thanet's Gateway Plus in Cecil Street, Margate and online at https://planning.thanet.gov.uk/online-applications. Section 106 Agreements will be made available to the public on the website.
9.7 The Council receives and handles comments sent electronically via public access on the Council's website and also post and e-mail. The Council actively encourages the use of public access for the submission of comments from all interested parties and will continue to work to increase the submission of comments electronically. The main issues arising from any comments received are summarised in planning reports. Comments received are published on the Council's website within ten working days of submission, with only personal contact details (including house number, telephone number, email addresses), signatures and special category data redacted. The Council's policy for publishing representations can be found on the council's website at www.thanet.gov.uk
9.8 Members of the public and consultees can register to track the progress of an application on our website at https://planning.thanet.gov.uk/online-applications/. Once a decision has been made, interested parties are able to view the decision notice on the council's website, receiving email alerts when a planning application has been decided.
9.9 The Council's Planning Committee determines some planning applications (in specific circumstances as defined by the Council's constitution) and allows public speaking in respect of those applications. Further information on how people can apply to speak at the planning committee can be found on the council's website at www.thanet.gov.uk.
9.10 The Council will provide advice before a planning application is submitted - this helps people understand how a proposal is affected by planning law and policies, what information will be required when a planning application is submitted and identify any specialist surveys/reports that will be needed (eg about listed buildings, trees, noise etc). Advice will be given in writing, and a meeting can be arranged if required, and should be provided within 30 working days. Costs for pre-application advice are available on the Councils website at www.thanet.gov.uk.
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