“Have you seen what they are doing? Do I not like that!”

Sometimes you will come across development of which you disapprove.

This may be because your neighbour has spoken with you in advance of their submitting an application for planning permission. Often it is because your local planning authority (LPA) has notified you as a neighbour potentially affected by it. Applications are also posted on LPA’s websites (where you can usually view all of the application documents), deposited in the LPA’s offices or in local libraries, or publicised in local newspapers.

So what can you do about it?

You are entitled to object to any planning application, whether or not you have been notified of it. The way to object about a planning application is to write to the LPA’s planning department. This can be done by post or electronically by e-mail or using the comments facility on the website. Follow the instructions for doing so and always use the LPA’s reference or application number and make sure that you send it to the correct address. Your objection should be submitted within the required timeframe and in any event before it is determined – the earlier the better in my experience.

While it is obviously helpful to have a number of objectors, avoid the temptation of organising a petition or producing a standard template objection letter. Try to confine yourself to planning matters because LPAs are prevented from taking account of ‘immaterial considerations’ and steer well clear of anything that is libellous, racist or otherwise offensive. Concentrate on what will adversely affect you or the neighbourhood e.g. residential amenity, visual impact, effect on character, noise and disturbance, overlooking and loss of privacy. Specific designations and heritage considerations such as Green Belt, Conservation Area or Listed Building issues, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty or Sites of Special Scientific Interest and Tree Preservation Order protected trees all give rise to additional considerations which need to be considered in the determination process and which can provide rich grounds for objection. The same applies to issues associated with protected species. Concerns about highway safety may also be raised, but these are sometimes difficult to sustain without specialist evidence or the endorsement of the local highway authority which may or may not also be the LPA.

The LPA will consider your objection when determining the application. This determination is required to be in accordance with “the Development Plan”, unless ‘material planning considerations’ indicate otherwise. If you think that the proposal is in breach of the relevant policies in the Development Plan then include this in your objection.

Most applications are determined by the planning officer under delegated powers unless there is either a requirement that they be determined by the Planning Committee or there is a mechanism for referring it to the Committee where certain circumstances apply i.e. there are objections or a Member requests it.

If the matter does go before the Planning Committee then you might also want to write to all of the Members of the Committee setting out your objecting directly. You might also want to attend the Committee and, if your LPA permits it, address the Committee orally.

If planning permission is granted and you are unhappy about the way in which the process was conducted then you may apply to the High Court by way of an application for judicial review for the permission to be quashed. The High Court will only deal with the legality of the process and will not substitute its own view of the merits of the proposal. In any event there are strict time requirements for such applications; there is a two stage process to undergo in that the Court must first be satisfied on the papers that there is at least an arguable case that there was an error of law which would justify a quashing order being made; and never forget that it is an expensive process.

If on the otherhand the application is refused by the LPA and the applicant exercises his/her right of appeal the LPA should inform you of this. In circumstances where the appeal is dealt with by full written representations, hearing or public inquiry you will have the right to make further written representations in addition to anything you may have written at the application stage. You will also have the right to attend any hearing or public inquiry. There is also provision for a statutory challenge to the Inspector’s decision but this again relates only to errors of law and not the merits of the proposal.  Strict time limits apply.

The danger in both judicial review and statutory challenges is that the Court has discretion whether or not to quash the decision made, even if satisfied that there was a legal error in the decision or in the way in which it was reached. If the Court feels that in the end the same decision would be reached again, it may very well refuse to make a quashing order and you are left with nothing more than a ‘pyrrhic’ victory.

If you require advice on the specifics of any development proposal to which you object please do not hesitate to contact me at my day job.