How we process a planning application

The Planning Register and Publicity for Planning Applications
Your application will be added to the statutory register of applications. As a public document your application will be available for inspection by members of the public, and will also be made available on the Council’s website.

We will publicise your application by writing to adjoining owners or occupiers, posting a site notice on or near the site, or placing a notice in the local press. The nature of publicity will depend on the type of application. For most householder applications, the publicity will be limited to letters to adjoining owners or occupiers.

We may also need to consult other organisations and public agencies about your application, as well as other parts of the Council such as Highways, Environmental Health and Access.

We have published Web Pages about making representations about a planning application. We cannot make a decision on a planning application until the statutory period for making comments has expired. This is normally 21 days.

Processing Planning Applications Index

Dealing with applications
We have two area planning teams. One covers the East and the other the West part of the Borough. A case officer in one of the teams will deal with your application. We will let you know the name of your case officer. The case officer will assess your application based on the information submitted. We may need to ask you for more information, and if so we will do this as quickly as possible. The case officer will carry out a site visit. If the case officer needs to get onto the applicant site, we will contact you to make arrangements. If you wish to check on the progress of your application you should ring the case officer.

When assessing your application we will take into account policies in the Borough's development plan (which is currently the South Tyneside Unitary Development Plan) and to other material considerations. We will also look at how your proposal fits in with any relevant supplementary planning guidance approved by the Council. We will take into account any representations made by members of the public and any comments made by other consultees.

We will tell you as soon as possible if your proposal could be amended in order to make it acceptable. We will give you an opportunity to submit amended plans. We may need to give further publicity for amended plans to nearby occupiers or owners.

The case officer will make a recommendation to either grant permission or refuse permission. If the recommendation is to grant permission there will often be conditions. In addition to a standard condition relating to the time within which the development must be begun, the most common conditions on householder applications relate to materials. We will not impose any unusual conditions without discussing them with you first.

If the recommendation is to refuse permission, the case officer will let you know. You can then make further representations if you wish.

Processing Planning Applications Index

Making the decision
The Council has targets for deciding applications. 60% of all major applications should be decided within 13 weeks of valid receipt, 65% of all minor applications within 8 weeks of valid receipt, and 80% of other applications within 8 weeks of valid receipt. We publish our current levels of performance. You can help us achieve our targets by responding to requests for additional information or amended plans as quickly as possible. We will not make unreasonable requests for information.

We have a procedure that allows most applications to be decided by a senior officer of the Council. We have published details of the delegation scheme. When we receive your application we will tell you if the decision would normally be delegated to the senior officer.

The Council's Planning Committee decides other applications. The Committee usually meets every three weeks. If your application is to be decided by the Committee we will prepare a report that describes the proposal and gives details of any information that the Committee will need to enable it to make its decision. The report will be available five days before the Committee meeting and we will give you a copy on request. We have a system to allow the public to speak in opposition or support of planning applications when the Planning Committee considers them. You will be able to respond to any speakers. If the recommendation is to refuse permission, and the application is to decided by the Planning Committee, you will be able to speak at the meeting. We have published details of the protocol for speaking at Committee.

Once a decision has been made we will issue you with a decision notice. We will normally do this within two working days of the decision being made. The notice will contain any conditions that are attached to the permission, together with a reason for each. Some conditions may require you to have further information approved before you start work. If the decision is to refuse the application, the notice will give the reasons. The notice will also list all of your plans that relate to the decision. The notice will give details of how you can appeal against a refusal or any condition.

Processing Planning Applications Index

What to do if you are not satisfied with the service you have received
The Council has a corporate complaints procedure. This aims to deal with complaints quickly and fairly, and to use them as a means of monitoring and improving the performance of our service.

If there is anything that you are not happy about, please speak to a member of staff. They will record your complaint and try to deal with the matter on the spot. If the matter cannot be settled straight away, we will investigate the matter and inform you of the outcome within 14 days. If you are not satisfied, the procedure allows for the matter to be dealt with by our Designated Complaints Officer and, ultimately, the Council's Chief Executive. As a last resort, you can take your complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman.

> Making Representations about a Planning Application