How Does the County Council Deal with Planning Applications

We try and make our decisions quickly and carefully when dealing with planning applications and we always consider the environment and public.  Before we determine an application, we must ensure the development is in the best interests of the County and as many people as possible and causes as little impact to the environment.

A planning application goes through various stages that vary with different type of applications.  Below, shows an overview of a standard planning application.

It is beneficial for the applicant and the County Planning Authority if pre application discussions take place.  These discussions will hopefully resolve any problems arising through the planning process and could save you time and money.

Once you have prepared your application and completed all the relevant planning application forms if it is a mineral application or the online forms if it is a Reg 3 or waste application and submitted your application and fee to the relevant planning authority, it can be validated and registered.  It is advised that you take into consideration the County Planning Authority validation checklists when preparing your planning application

All applications need to be checked and validated to ensure that we receive all the correct information, the application forms are completed correctly, all the relevant certificates have been signed and the correct fee has been submitted.  The County Planning Authority also assesses whether the application requires an environmental statement.  Should, we not receive all the relevant information required to process and determine the application we will request the information within 5 days and require the additional information to be submitted prior to registering the planning application.

Once the application has been validated it then needs to be placed on the planning register and given a unique application number.  The County Planning Authority does not have a planning register and, therefore, all applications are sent to the relevant district for them to register the application.  This normally takes between two - three days.  We acknowledge all applications and inform the applicant or agent of the planning application reference number.  You can monitor your application through our online search facility.

The County Planning Authority has 8 weeks to determine most planning applications, 13 weeks if it is a waste or mineral application or 16 weeks if an environmental statement accompanies the application

The planning register is a public document that the public can view.  If it is unlikely that a determination would be made within the 8, 13 or 16 weeks then we would ask the applicant / agent for an extension to the determination time.

Should this request be refused the applicant can appeal to the Secretary of State (Planning Inspectorate) on the grounds of non-determination.  The Planning Inspectorate would then make a decision about the application.

As part of determining a planning application consultations need to be undertaken in accordance with the Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) Order 1995 as amended.  There are two types of consultation, statutory consultations (e.g. District Councils, Parish Councils & the Environment Agency) and public consultation/publicity.

The normal consultation period is 21 days from the date of the consultation letter or notice.  We may accept responses after this date but prior to determination.

The type of development, location and surrounding constraints determines which statutory consultees are consulted.  Public consultation/ publicity will be by a site notice on the application land, and may be a notice on a public notice board, neighbour notification or a press notice.  It is the judgement of the planning officer as to how large an area the neighbour notification covers and this would be influenced by the type of development / planning application submitted.

If you would like to make comments on a planning application please email planningcontrol@leics.gov.uk or make comments online through our online search facility.  Please click for more information about making comments on a planning application.

All responses are taken into consideration when determining a planning application.  All public representations are acknowledged within 5 working days.  Should the application be determined by the Development Control and Regulatory Board information on how to speak at the board shall be sent or can be found on the County's website.

Once we have received all statutory consultee responses and any additional information required to make an informed planning recommendation, and dependent upon the type of application and whether any objections have been raised the application shall be determined by either the Director of Community Services or the Development Control and Regulatory Board.  Some planning decisions regarding reserved matters submissions can be made by the Director of Community Services.  

Details about the County Planning Authority's delegation powers can be found online.

To find out the progress of an application please search our online search facility.

Either planning conditions or reasons for refusal accompany a decision made by the County Planning Authority.  These will either be presented in the report  or be decided when being determined.

The imposition of conditions on a planning permission can enable many development proposals to proceed where it would otherwise be necessary to refuse permission; conditions serve the additional purpose of securing the environmental acceptability.

Conditions should deal with points of major importance likely to arise during the lifetime of the permission, they should not cover every minor obligation and conceivable contingency.  The obligations or limitations on a developer must be confined to those, which are related to land use.

Conditions are often discussed with the applicant/ agent prior to determination to resolve any operational problems that may occur.  Conditions may be altered or changed during the Development Control and Regulatory Board.

If the applicant does not like any of the planning condition they can appeal to the Secretary of State (Planning Inspectorate).  The Planning Inspectorate may agree with the County's conditions but the Planning Inspectorate can also change the conditions or add new ones.

Prior to submitting our committee reports we would normally notify applicants that we propose to recommend refusal, this allows the applicant to submit additional information they feel would resolve the reason for refusal and allows the applicant the opportunity to withdraw the application.

Should the recommendation remain as a refusal, reasons need to be specified in accordance with the development plan.

Once a planning decision has been made we notify those members of the public who requested to be informed and send a copy of the decision to the applicant and to the relevant district council to place it on their planning register.  You can also view all planning decisions online through our online search facility

All planning permissions are monitored to ensure that planning conditions and any reserved matters submitted and approved under delegated powers are adhered to and complied with.

The Enforcement Policy explains in more details the County's monitoring and enforcement procedure.