Each application will be allocated to a planning officer (your case officer) for determination.
You (or your agent) will be notified of your case officer upon notification of receipt of the application.
The case officer normally visits the site within 10 working days of receipt of the application.
Following the site visit, you (or your agent) will be contacted as soon as possible if there are any matters which need further clarification, or to discuss or make any amendments deemed necessary to make the proposal more acceptable.
It is the council’s practice to discuss difficulties and to negotiate, where possible, towards an acceptable scheme rather than refusing an application, which could be approved with sensible minor amendments.
Your co-operation is sought in amending plans in a timely manner in order not to delay the processing of your application.
Where amendments are not received, the original application may be refused unless it is withdrawn.
Some applications fail in principle, and in such cases officers will endeavour to explain this before a decision to refuse is reached.
The council is required to determine minor applications within eight weeks and major applications within thirteen weeks of registration. An extension to this period will only be sought or agreed to where there are good reasons for doing so. Your cooperation is essential in ensuring that delays are kept to a minimum.
Consultations and Notification
As part of the consideration process, the council are required to undertake certain formal consultations with relevant individuals, groups or organisations such as parish or town councils, the Environment Agency or other departments within Shropshire Council. The council also notifies interested parties and neighbours in accordance with government guidelines and our own adopted procedures. This is done either in writing or by displaying a site notice, or both. Major applications are also advertised in the local press.
You will be sent a site notice to display on your site where it can be seen by the passing public. It is essential that this is displayed quickly, and properly maintained for the stated period, as this may affect the efficient handling of your application.
It is our current practice to consult only neighbours with a common boundary with the site, and to use a site notice to inform any others within the vicinity of the proposal.
All neighbours and consultees will be given 21 days to make any comments.
Details of current applications can be viewed online or inspected at an area office during normal office hours.
How is a Decision Reached?
Applications will be determined in one of two ways:
- by the area planning committee
- under officers' delegated powers
Further information on area planning committees, including membership and contact information, can be found on the Planning Committees page which can be accessed by clicking the link on this page.
Scheme of Delegation
Applications will be determined under officers' delegated powers unless they relate to one of the following:
- Applications made by, on behalf of, or relating to the property of members or officers of the council who hold politically restricted posts, or who either directly or indirectly report to the group manager - Environment.
- Applications made by the council, or in relation to land owned by the council, which are not in line with statutory functions (for instance, classroom extensions etc were delegated to officers but speculative proposals on council owned land would not be).
- Applications accompanied by an environmental statement.
- Complex or major applications, which in the view of the group manager - Environment, or the service manager with responsibility for Development Management, in consultation with the committee chairman or vice chairman, should be determined by the relevant planning committee.
- Member Call-In: applications requested to be referred by the local member to the relevant planning committee within 21 days of electronic notification of the application, and agreed by the service manager with responsibility for Development Management in consultation with the committee chairman or vice chairman, to be based on material planning reasons.
- Parish and Town Councils: for applications where the parish council submit a view contrary to officers (approval or refusal) based upon material planning reasons, the following tests need to be met:
- These contrary views cannot reasonably be overcome by negotiation or imposition of planning conditions; and
- The area manager or principal planning officer, in consultation with the committee chairman or vice chairman and the local member, agrees that the parish/town council has raised material planning issues, and that the application should be determined by committee.
The full scheme of delegation can be viewed by clicking the attachment at the bottom of this page.
Further Information
A copy of the officer’s report to committee and all representations received and considered are held on record, and are available for inspection during normal office hours for four years. A charge for copying will be made.
A Charter for Development Management has been produced by Shropshire Council to explain the standards of service and performance that you can expect. The charter is attached to this page.