The main purpose of the
Planning Committee is to consider and decide upon planning
applications, although they also have responsibility for
determining proposals for the making of Tree Preservation Orders
where an objection has been made. The Planning Committee only
decides a relatively small proportion of all the planning
applications submitted. The rest are decided by senior planning
officers. It is in the public interest for the council to have
these arrangements in place to ensure that decisions on planning
applications, that raise no significant planning issues are made
quickly and that resources are appropriately concentrated on the
applications of greatest significance to the local area. The full
functions and responsibilities of the Planning Committee and the
powers delegated to senior officers can be found in the Council's
Constitution.
All reports to the
Planning Committee contain a section where points or issues raised
by third parties, including neighbours
and other members of the public, are set out for the committee's
consideration. Letters are not, however, set out in full. If you
would like any or all of the members of the Planning Committee to
see a full copy of your representation and/or any other material
(such as photographs) you must send it directly to them at
their home address in advance of the committee meeting. Council
officers must remain impartial and cannot therefore distribute such
representations to members on your behalf.
The committee may also
visit some or all of the application sites prior to the meeting.
Members are there to look at the site and its surroundings and may
not engage with members of the public during the visit.
Particularly for those sites which members do not visit, our
officers may present video footage of the site so the Planning
Committee can be made aware of relevant details of the site and its
surroundings. Further information may be found in our guide on
How the Planning Committee
Operates.
Members of the public,
including applicants, agents and anybody either supporting or
objecting to a planning application that is to be considered by the
Planning Committee, may request to speak at the meeting, although
the number of speakers allowed to speak either for or against a
proposal is limited. Requests to speak must be sent to
the Planning Committee clerk either via email (democratic.services@wyre.gov.uk)
or telephone (01253 887392) 24 hours prior to the meeting. Ward
Councillors who are not members of the
committee may also speak. Further information on the scheme
and how to make a request to speak may be found in
our Guide
to Public Speaking at Committee.
Please note that the
relevant legislation relating to Tree Preservation Orders includes
a fixed period during which representations submitted and therefore
members of the public have no rights to speak on such
matters at Planning Committee meetings.