Speaking on Planning Applications
Every year Dover District Council receives around 1,600 planning
applications. Each application is important and the Council
wants to encourage you to be involved in the Planning
process. Therefore you can have your say on applications
considered at Planning Committee. You do not have to speak to
have your views taken into account as letters carry equal weight
and will always be considered carefully. However, you may
feel that speaking at the meeting gives you the chance to reinforce
the points you have already made in writing.
How public speaking works
Registering your
interest
If you would like to speak on a particular application you will
need to register your interest with the Council’s Committee
Section, please use the form below
Download the
Request to Speak Form - Word Format
Download the Request
to Speak Form - PDF Format
You can find out if a particular application will be discussed
about 10 days before the date of the meeting by looking on the website or by
contacting either the Customer Services on 01304 872486 or Abi
Robinson on 01304 872471. They should be able to advise you whether
the application is on the agenda and you can then register your
interest by returning the enclosed form to the Committee
Section
The Planning Committee meets around every four weeks and dates
for the meetings for 2009/2010 are set out below.
| |
2009 |
2010 |
| January |
15 |
14 |
| February |
12 |
11 |
| March |
12 |
11 |
| April |
2 |
8 & 29 |
| May |
7 |
27 |
| June |
11 |
|
| July |
2 & 30 |
|
| August |
27 |
|
| September |
24 |
|
| October |
22 |
|
| November |
19 |
|
| December |
17 |
|
An agenda with reports for each meeting is usually available
seven days before the meeting on the
website
The right to speak
To make sure that the Committee can deal with all of its
business, only one person will be allowed to speak for, and one
against, any particular planning applicationIf you wish to speak,
please register your interest with the Council’s Committee Section
by not later than 5.00 p.mon the Tuesday before the Planning
Committee meeting on the Thursday.
Interests will be registered on a first come, first served
basis, but if there is more than one speaker in support of an
application, preference will be given to the applicant or their
agentAnyone wishing to speak after somebody else has registered an
interest will be put in touch with the first person and all those
who wish to speak will need to agree amongst themselves who will
actually speak. The first person who is registered may defer to
another speaker at the discretion of the Chairman. It is
requested that you notify this change to the Committee Section in
writing by not later than 12.00 noon on the day of the
CommitteeThis is an opportunity for you or your substitute to
address the CommitteeIf any designated speaker prefers not to
address the Committee directly, then no submissions will be read
out on their behalf by a Council Officer.
N.B.
The applicant or their agent will be informed if someone registers
to speak against their applicationThe names, addresses and
telephone numbers of people who wish to speak may be given to other
people who share their views and have expressed a wish to address
the Committee.
Making the most of the
opportunity
Owing to the volume of business at the Planning Committee
Meeting you will be able to speak for up to three minutes.
We hope the following points will help you make the best of this
opportunity.
- Members of the Committee will each have a copy of a written
report for each application which sums up the representations the
Council has receivedYou can obtain a copy of this report from seven
days before the meeting by contacting the Committee Section or read
it on our website.
- To make the best use of your time, please be brief and to the
point.You may find it helpful to rehearse what you have to say to
ensure that everything is included. You will not be allowed to
over-run your time.
- Written submissions, photographs or display material will not
be accepted at the meeting.
- Please confine your comments to planning issues which the
Committee can take into account - an indication of the areas which
can and cannot be taken into account is given later in this
leaflet.
- Please avoid derogatory or defamatory statementsYou are advised
to read the section on the laws of slander elsewhere in this
leaflet.
- Owing to the short time you have in which to put your views
across, it is better not to bring plans or elaborate visual aids to
illustrate your points.
- You may not speak in connection with Certificate of Lawful
Development,Tree Preservation Orders or Enforcement or legal
matters or ask questions about agenda items including planning
applications but may write to the Chief Planning and development
control Manager in the usual way.
Procedure at the meeting
- Meetings of the Planning Committee take place in the Council
Chamber of the Council Offices at the White Cliffs Business Park,
DoverThey start promptly at 6.00 p.m. If you are going to speak,
please arrive by 5.45 p.m and introduce yourself to the Officer at
Reception.
- The Officer will ask you to sit at the back of the Council
Chamber.
- Planning applications are dealt with in agenda order and it is
impossible to predict how long it will take to debate each
applicationIt may therefore be some time before the Committee
reaches the item on which you have asked to speakThe Chairman will
announce the application on which you wish to speak and invite you
to go to the place set aside for public speakingAll desks in the
Council Chamber have a microphone so you should have no difficulty
in making yourself heard.
- Once any additional information has been reported, the objector
will be invited to speak first, followed by the supporterYou will
be invited to speak for up to three minutesThis will only be varied
in the interest of balance when District Councillors not on the
Planning Committee wish to speak on an applicationThe time limit
will be strictly enforced and the Chairman will warn you when you
have only 30 seconds left.
- After you have finished speaking, you will be asked to return
to your seatYou are welcome to sit and listen to the debate, but
will not be able to take part in the discussion.
- After the public has spoken, the Planning Officer will offer
any necessary factual clarification and then the Committee will
debate the application and move to a vote.
- This usually means that a decision has been reached upon the
application, but in a small number of cases, consideration may be
deferred for the Committee to visit the site or to receive further
information.
- Once a vote has been taken, you need not stay, but you are
welcome to remain for some or the rest of the meeting if you so
wish.
- The Chairman has responsibility for the smooth running of the
meetingHis/her decision on procedural matters is final.
The Laws of Slander
These laws are very strictIf in public you say something about a
person which is not true, even if you believe it to be true, you
may be sued and have to pay compensation.
Therefore, you need to be very careful about any criticism you
wish to make of peopleCouncillors are able to speak more freely and
bluntly in Committee or Council than members of the publicYou, as a
member of the public, do not have the same protection.
MATTERS WHICH THE PLANNING COMMITTEE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO
TAKE INTO ACCOUNT WHEN DEALING WITH PLANNING
APPLICATIONS.
Planning powers are exercised in the public interest and
objections to a planning application on grounds which reflect the
writer’s personal and private interests would normally not be
applicableExamples would be:-
- Loss of a view
- Infringement of rights of light
- A breach of covenant attaching to land
- A fear that property may be devalued
- A fear that trade may be lost to a competitor
- Rights of way
MATTERS WHICH MAY BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT
- The Structure and Local Plan policies and proposals for the
area
- National Planning Guidance
- The density of development proposed for a site
- The effect of an application on highway safetyIs there a safe
access? Would traffic from the development be significantly
hazardous to drivers or pedestrians?
- The impact of a proposal on local amenities and the character
of the neighbourhood
- The design of the development
- Potential for a building or use to cause unacceptable
disturbance or pollution to neighbours or the locality
- Impact upon neighbours in terms of noise, overlooking,
overshadowing or overbearing impact
- Impact of the proposal on the character of an area including
nature conservation, or a conservation area or a listed
building
- The planning history of the site
This is not an exhaustive list - for further guidance, please
speak to the Customer Services on 01304 821199
Who to Contact
Finally, if you wish to question or comment on the conduct of
individual Officers or Councillors, or upon procedural matters,
this should not be done at Planning CommitteeThere is a separate
process via the District Council’s Complaints Procedure.
Please contact the Development Control Manager for advice on how
the scheme operates.
Tim Flisher
Development Control Manager
Dover District Council
White Cliffs Business Park
Dover
Kent CT16 3PJ
Contact Planning
Telephone: 01304 872486
Email developmentcontrol@dover.gov.uk
