Why get Involved in Planning

There are a number of reasons to get involved:

Putting in a planning application. To find out if you need planning permission, check with a Planning Officer at your local Council, who can normally give you an informal opinion. You could also seek professional advice either by employing a planning consultant or by contacting Planning Aid for London. When you put in a planning application, you should ensure it properly meets the policies set out in the Development Plan and keeps impact upon neighbouring properties to a minimum.

Responding to a planning application. When you are responding to a planning application, make sure you check the plans/drawings, and supporting documents accompanying major planning applications plus any draft planning obligations that are available. The plans/drawings are normally to scale - you will need a scale rule to understand them fully. Speak to the Duty Planning Officer if you require assistance with this. You should also look at the Development Plan, to see what the Councils policies say in relation to the development proposal, and you could include include any relevant policies in your objection letter. Make your views known in writing to the case officer if the proposals don't meet your requirements - this is your chance to change the proposal before a final decision is made.

Working in partnership on a planning application, Master Plan, Development brief, or regeneration scheme. Major development proposals may require pre application consultation, or even partnership working. This is a valuable opportunity to get your experience and needs properly considered before decisions are made. Credible Groups like an Access Group or Forum are often selected as partners for this purpose.

Input into the Local Development Framework (LDF). It is important that you get your experience and needs included in the LDF, for example, through the preparation of Supplementary Planning Documents such as Access for All, Urban design guides, and Core Strategy policies dealing with Environment, Housing, Transport, Community facilities, Leisure and Recreation, Waste disposal and management. These documents will guide development in your Borough over the next 10 - 15 years.

Input into Planning Obligations. Planning Obligations, also known as s106 Agreements or Planning Gain Agreements, are legal agreements between a developer, the Planning Authority and any others that have an interest in land. They are negotiated by Planners and can be used to ensure, for example, a certain amount of affordable housing is being provided on site, or the replacement of a community facility or service lost as a result of new development or redevelopment. If prepared, the draft Planning Obligation should be available at the time of public consultation on the planning application, for you to consider and get your views known through to the Planning Officer.