PLANNING CONSULTATIONS

Council have recently been involved in Planning consultations on 3 draft documents designed to help Councillors approaching planning applications under the new NCC decision structure. They concerned major developments, pre- planning protocols and S106 agreements- ‘planning gains’. It is hoped that these will result in greater participation between developers, NCC officers and your community; those coming forward with large applications for housing or commercial  developments are to be encouraged to approach Councils, and sometimes the community, for comments before a full application is made. An example of this was the new housing development at Dandsfield Square which resulted in some changes being made, such as to the layout, before the final plans were drawn up. In this way, NCC hope the full application process will be quicker without impacting on the community’s right to comment. There will also be greater consultation with towns and villages in any planning gain attached to developments so that they more accurately reflect community needs.