Commenting on planning applications

When making your comments, please remember that only material planning issues will be considered. These can be:

• Suitability of the site for the proposed development (e.g. contamination / flooding issues)
• Visual appearance of the proposed development and its relationship to its surroundings
• Building materials
• Height, scale, massing, design, density, and layout of development, particularly in comparison with other buildings in the locality
• Privacy, over-shadowing, over-development (overcrowding) and lack of natural light
• Environmental impact - such as pollution and contamination
• Impact on setting of listed buildings or conservation area
• Nuisances caused by the development such as noise, smell, fumes, glare from floodlights or headlights of vehicles
• Adverse safety impact, e.g. the siting of a hazardous installation such as a firework factory next to houses
• Compatibility with existing uses e.g. the mix of uses found in town centres, such as shops, offices and cafes can be mutually beneficial
• Economic benefits e.g. creation of jobs
• The needs of an area (employment, commercial, social or leisure facilities, affordable housing)
• Provision of suitable access and transportation (including road safety, parking issues, effect on pedestrians and cyclists, and amount of traffic generated)
• Adequacy of infrastructure (e.g sewerage, drainage and water)
• Creation of an undesirable "precedent", making it difficult to resist similar proposals elsewhere (but this should not be over-emphasised)
• Planning history of the site (including decisions on previous planning applications on the same site, particularly appeal or court decisions

Are there any types of comments that are not taken into account?

Items which are NOT material considerations, and are therefore not relevant to planning include:

• Title restrictions
• Applicant's lack of ownership of the site
• Issues covered by other legislation e.g. health and safety regulations, licensing, building control
• Any factor indicating that there is a lack of any reasonable prospect of the development proceeding