Yes. Residents can still object to, support or comment on planning applications. Submit your comments through the council’s online planning application service, or by email or post, quoting the application reference and site address. Make sure your comments reach the council by the advertised deadline and focus on relevant planning matters.
Relevant planning comments must still be considered, whether the decision is made by officers or the Planning Committee. However, objections do not automatically mean an application will go to committee.
Use the council’s Find Councillor (opens in new tab) service to search by postcode or ward. The results provide details of your ward councillors and how to contact them. If you do not know your ward, the council’s mapping service can help you identify it.
Contact your ward councillor as early as possible, giving the application reference and explaining your planning concerns. Your councillor should follow the council’s published Gateway request procedure and explain why an eligible application raises significant economic, social or environmental issues for the local area, or significant planning matters.
A request does not guarantee referral. Under the national arrangements and legislation, an application is assessed and a decision made by the council's nominated officer (Head of Planning) and nominated member (Chair of Planning Committee) if an application will be presented at Committee. Applications that must legally be decided by officers cannot use the ordinary Gateway route.
Please follow the link to the government pages for more information and clarity on these changes.
Fewer applications are expected to go to committee, although the actual reduction will depend on the applications received. The national scheme requires many routine, minor and technical applications to be decided by officers. Other eligible applications can go to committee where the Gateway requirements are met.
The change concerns who makes the decision, not the planning policies and relevant considerations against which an application is assessed.
A refusal of a Gateway request is not a refusal of planning permission. It means the application will not go to committee through that request and will normally continue to an officer decision under delegated powers.
Your relevant planning comments will still be considered when the application is decided. You can ask your councillor or the planning service to explain the outcome of the Gateway Assessment.