APPENDIX A - PLANNING ISSUES

Braintree District Council has to comply with statutory requirements and government targets for consultation on planning issues therefore specific arrangements for planning issues are that:

1. Braintree District Council will:

a.  Consult parish/town councils on all applications for planning permission

b. Allow 21 days for the submission of representations by Parish/Town Councils. (the statutory minimum is 14 days).

c. Notify Parish/Town Councils of any significant amendment to a planning application and allow a further 14 day period for representations to be made before a decision is taken on the amended plan. (Significant amendments are those considered by the case officer to materially affect the planning application, but not to require a new application).

d. Report the views of Parish/Town Councils to Members of the relevant committee, in accordance with the Council’s scheme of delegation.

e. Notify Parish/Town Councils of all planning decisions.

f. Provide Parish/Town Councils with copies of the Area Committee agenda items on request.

g. Endeavour to make officers available to attend meetings of Parish/Town Councils to clarify the details of significant or controversial applications.

h. Provide periodic training courses for local councillors and/or Parish/Town clerks to aid an understanding of the planning process and the matters which have a material bearing upon the determination of a planning application.

2. Parish/Town Councils will:

a. Acknowledge that Braintree District Council will not always be able to accede to the requests of parish/town councils.

b. Respond within the given timescales in writing to all planning applications received from Braintree District Council.

c. Comment on planning applications on planning grounds, and specify as fully as possible the reasons for an objection to, or support for, a particular application.

d. Attend meetings, briefings and training to gain a better understanding of the planning process. 

 3.   Local Development Framework

a. There will be two periods of formal consultation on Development Plan Documents: at the preferred Options Stage and at the Submission Stage. Although the period for making representations will be limited to the statutory six-week period, whenever possible the Council will publish documents before then to give Parish and Town Councils a longer period in which they can be considered.

b. For Supplementary Planning Documents there will be one formal consultation stage with a statutory period of 4 to 6 weeks and again whenever possible we will publish the documents before the statutory period begins. At these times the Council will publish its documents, both in hard copy and electronically and invite representations on them.