By Cllr Alexa Michael
Chairman, Development Control Committee, Bromley Council
Below I seek to explain how planning applications are determined in the London Borough of Bromley.
Somebody makes an application to Bromley’s planning department. The vast majority are non-Major householder applications but none the less important because they have a cumulative impact upon an area. (By Non-major, I mean applications with 9 or fewer units of housing or under 1,000 square metres for a commercial application). Major applications (10 or more housing units or more than 1,000 square metres of commercial space) make up only a minority of the thousands lodged with Bromley Planning each year.
When Planning receives an application, it is validated to make sure that the applicant has submitted all the necessary documents and has paid the fee. (If not, the application is invalid and cannot be processed until everything is received). The application is then allocated a planning number and a Planning Case Officer who is a professionally qualified planner. He or she then processes the application – the targets are eight weeks for non-Major applications and 13 weeks for Major applications – and can involve a great deal of liaising with applicants for further details.
Members of the public, including neighbours who are affected by the application are consulted and invited to make comments, either in favour or against the application. They are asked to comment within 21 days so their views can be included in the planning report. All comments must be based on planning grounds – for example, you cannot object on grounds such as loss of value to your property or noise and disturbance during the construction period. In the case of a Major application which affects an entire area, thousands of people can write in giving their views. However, all must be based on planning grounds. All comments will be taken into consideration as part of the process.
Ward Councillors are also informed of all planning applications and can ‘call-in’ any application to a planning committee. They frequently do so if there is a good deal of public interest or if there are specific issues that they want to see discussed and decided in public. It is very common that residents will call on their Ward Councillors for support.
For most applications, Councillors will carry out their own private visit to a site. It is only the largest applications that merit an organised visit with Council planning officers present.
For every application, the Planning Case Officer will write a report with a recommendation, either to permit or refuse permission. The vast majority of applications (roughly 97%) are determined under officers’ delegated authority and never see the light of day at a planning committee. It is the more contentious applications and the largest that will come to either Development Control or one of two of its planning sub-committees.
Planning sub-committees are held monthly while Development Control Committee meets roughly every 8 weeks, always on a Thursday. Where applications come to committee, there is the opportunity for the applicant (or agent) and one objector to address the Councillors for up to 3 minutes before the Members debate the application. A Councillor who does not sit on the planning committee can address the committee as a Visiting Ward Member if an application falls in his or her Ward. (A Visiting Ward Member has up to 5 minutes to speak).
Once members of the public or a Visiting Ward Member have spoken, Councillors can ask them questions. The planning committee members then debate the application and make a recommendation, either for permission, refusal or to defer an application if further work is suggested or more information needed. Where an application is deferred, Councillors can only suggest the aspects of an application they would like to see changed; it will be up to the applicant if they wish to amend the scheme. A motion for permission, refusal or deferral will be moved and seconded by two members of the committee. It is possible for there to be two or even three motions recommending different courses of action. When this occurs, the committee Chairman must take the motions in the order in which they are put. A vote is then taken to permit, refuse or defer the application.
Where an application is permitted, there will be a number of planning conditions imposed and the applicant must adhere to these. These can include stipulating the type of materials to be used in building, the hours of operation for a commercial application or the removal of permitted development rights. The latter means the applicant will have to make a planning application for any development that is allowed without the need for planning permission. Work has to commence within 3 years. After this time, the permission lapses and the applicant has to re-apply for permission as there may have been material changes to the area.
If the applicant fails to adhere to the conditions, the Council may take enforcement action against the applicant. It is possible for the applicant to appeal against enforcement action. If so, the matter goes into abeyance and may take months to resolve through the appeal system.
An unsuccessful applicant may appeal to the Planning Inspectorate in Bristol; there is no route of redress for objectors.
There are four kinds of planning appeal:
- Fast-track appeals for householder applications only. These result in a decision made in weeks, rather than months.
- Written Representations – no meeting is held. The appeal is decided by written evidence submitted by the Council although the Planning Inspector will visit the site. This is used for the vast majority of planning appeals that do not go down the fast-track route.
- Informal Hearing – this will be held for an application that has attracted considerable local interest. A legal representative for the applicant as well as the Council will be present and can cross-question members of the public or Councillors. An Informal Hearing usually takes a morning and a decision will be issued several weeks later.
- Local Enquiry – a formal hearing reserved for the very largest planning applications, such as a school or hospital or large-scale housing developments. This will involve full legal representation for both sides and the appeal can take days or even weeks. It could be up to 8 weeks before a decision is issued.
In Bromley, roughly two thirds of appeals are dismissed (refused) by the Planning Inspector with the remainder upheld (allowed). This is in line with the national average.
I cannot emphasise enough that any decision is made solely on planning grounds not on whether a development is liked or not. Even then, there is an element of subjectivity in weighing the balance of evidence of compliance with policy which can result in successful appeals overturning local decisions.
