More delay for planning applications

Thursday 07 May 2020

Those seeking planning approval might face further delays, with each application subject to another 21 days of public consultation as lockdown restrictions begin to ease.

The Development & Planning Authority has come to the decision that public consultations should start again, before applicants can move on to the steps that remained at the point of lockdown.

It believes this to be the simplest and fairest way of getting the process up and running again, as some people had difficulty making representations on proposals before lockdown was imposed.

The new plans aim to ensure that all decisions are robust and not subject to challenge for a lack of publicity.

Pictured: President of the D&PA, Deputy Dawn Tindall.

However, Planning Officers will continue to work on applications through the extended period of consultation and it is hoped that the majority of cases will have a decision very shortly after the expiry of that time.

Meanwhile, any new planning applications which were submitted after lockdown began will continue to be processed through registration and validation stages.

Following the lifting of lockdown, valid applicants will be issued site notices and their 21 day publicity period will commence as soon as it has been displayed, as usual.

Where possible, preliminary assessment work will be undertaken on new applications before the statutory publicity begins. This may include site visits by Planning Officers, where it is safe to do so within the Public Health guidelines.