Planning Application Consultation Responses

A guide to the process of planning consultations

Parish Councils are statutory consultees for certain planning applications. This role is not to be confused with the role of the BANES district council planning officers, who are the decision makers for the planning applications. The district council decides on the planning application, not the Parish Council. The Parish Council is consulted on the planning application.

BANES publish planning applications on their website and allow for comments to be submitted. To view local applications, see ‘West Harptree’ under ‘PARISH’ on the BANES website: https://www.bathnes.gov.uk/webforms/planning/search.html#advancedSearch

BANES council planning officers are responsible for the decisions and are required to consult with certain statutory bodies, which includes Parish Councils for certain applications. This is an opportunity for the Parish Council to provide a local perspective on planning applications. The BANES planning officers are under no obligation to implement consultation responses submitted by the Parish Council.

Planning officers consider these consultation responses, along with other materials, which also includes comments submitted to the district council from members of the public. These comments can be submitted by members of the public via the BANES website above.

When the Parish Council receives a request for a planning consultation response, members of the parish council review any applications to enable the Parish Council to reach a joint response. This is normally achieved by members voting at a public meeting of the Parish Council.

Pubic participation

Members of the public are welcome to attend Parish Council meetings and are given an opportunity to present questions or comments during a public participation session at the beginning of the meeting.

The Parish Council does not have an obligation to consult with the public before submitting a planning consultation response, however, the Parish Council do encourage public participation at meetings. The Parish Council meetings are publicly published at least three days prior to a Parish Council meeting. A diary of upcoming meetings is published on the website.

Members of the public may also write to the Clerk of council with any comments for attention of the council, which the Clerk can share with members of the council.

https://westharptreeparishcouncil.co.uk/councillors-and-clerk/

If a planning application is to be discussed at a public meeting, where possible, this is normally published on the meeting agenda. The agenda is published on notice boards in the village and on the Parish Council website. Members of the public can also subscribe to the council newsletter for regular updates, which normally includes a diary of upcoming Parish Council meetings.

https://westharptreeparishcouncil.co.uk/mailing-list/

Archive of Responses submitted to BANES

To view latest udpates, please visit

https://www.bathnes.gov.uk/webforms/planning/search.html#advancedSearch
(select ‘West Harptree’ under ‘PARISH’ drop down box)

Archive of Planning Consultation Responses 24-25:

Archive of Planning Consultation Responses 23-24:

Archive of Planning Consultation Responses 22-23: