Leicestershire Parish Councils

PROBITY AND PLANNING – GUIDANCE FOR PARISH COUNCILORS

Under the relevant planning legislation, Parish Councils are entitled to be notified of every planning application (unless they have waived the requirement.) The District Council has to inform the Parish Council in writing of the application, indicating the nature of the development and identifying the land to which it relates.

Many of the complaints considered by the Standards Board for England relate to members’involvement in planning applications and it is very important, therefore, that members are scrupulous in their adherence to the Code of Conduct, for example in declaring personal interests (paragraphs 7 and 8 of the Parish Council model code); leaving the room if the interest is prejudicial (paragraph 9) and not using their position as a member to improperly confer on themselves or any other person, an advantage or disadvantage (paragraph 5).

If a member of the Parish Council is also a member of the District Council which is considering a planning application, the member will need to be careful if serving on the District Council’s planning committee, that they have not pre-judged an application as a result of any prior involvement of the Parish Council. If in doubt, the Councillor should consult their Monitoring Officer. The Standards Board for England has issued detailed guidance on this situation in a booklet entitled “Lobby groups, dual-hatted members and the Code of Conduct”. This is available on the Standards Board for England’s web site or copies may be obtained by telephoning the Standards Board for England.

WHAT IS A MATERIAL PLANNING CONSIDERATION?

The Key Purpose of Planning
This is to control development in the public interest. The District Council, as your local planning authority, must take decisions on behalf of the whole community.

Decision Making
The local planning authority must make decisions openly, fairly, with sound judgement and for justifiable planning reasons. It can consider applications on planning grounds only. The Adopted Local Plan is an important consideration and, in addition to the Local Plan, the local planning authority must consider what are known as material planning considerations.

Examples of these are the number, size and layout of a development, siting, design, external appearance, access, infrastructure, landscaping and impact on the neighbourhood.

Views of local residents are always considered, but local opposition or support on its own is not a reason for refusing or granting planning permission. Opposition or support must be
backed up by valid planning reasons.

The Government regularly issues Statements of Planning Policy and these are known as Planning Policy Statements (PPSs). These are also material planning considerations and the local planning authority must take them into account when reaching planning decisions.

Many planning applications become the subject of court proceedings. The local planning authority must take the courts’ decisions into account as they are also material planning
considerations.

Listed below are examples of other issues that the local planning authority can and cannot consider. This list does not show everything; it is meant as a guide to help the Parish Council when preparing its statement. If you are unsure as to whether or not your objection might be a material planning consideration, call the case officer who is dealing with the matter.

Issues the local planning authority can normally consider:

• Overshadowing
• Overlooking and loss of privacy
• Adequate parking and servicing
• Overbearing nature of proposal
• Loss of trees
• Loss of ecological habitats
• Design and appearance
• Layout and density of buildings
• Effect on listed building(s) and conservation areas
• Access and highways safety
• Traffic generation
• Noise and disturbance from the scheme
• Disturbance from smells
• Public visual amenity (not loss of private individual’s view)
• Flood risk

Issues the local planning authority cannot normally consider:

• Loss of value to private individual property
• Loss of view
• Boundary disputes including encroachment of foundations or gutters
• Private covenants or agreements
• The applicant’s personal conduct or history
• The applicant’s motives
• Potential profit for the applicant or from the application
• Private rights to light
• Private rights of way
• Damage to property
• Disruption during any construction phase
• Loss of trade and competitors
• Age, health, status, background and work patterns of objector
• Time taken to do the work
• Capacity of private drains
• Building and structural techniques
• Alcohol or gaming licences