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Planning application process

Matters considered when determining applications

When determining applications for planning permission, the Council must take into account the provisions of the Replacement Calderdale Unitary Development Plan in so far as they are relevant to the application and then to other material considerations.

Applications for development which are in accordance with the Replacement Unitary Development Plan shall be allowed unless material considerations indicate otherwise.

The development plan

The Replacement Calderdale Unitary Development Plan comprises a written statement which sets out the Council's policies for the use of the land, and a proposals map which gives a land use notation for every piece of land in the district. The two elements of the plan, the written statement and the proposals map must be read in conjunction. It should be noted that if any discrepancy should arise between the text and the map, the provisions of the written statement will prevail.

Other material planning considerations

In addition to taking into account the use for which land is allocated in the Replacement Unitary Development Plan and its various planning policies, the Council has to consider a wide range of other matters. These include Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) . Many of the representations made by the public when planning applications are published are relevant, but some arguments are not.

The DCLG's  Planning Policy Statement 1: Delivering Sustainable Development| includes the following advice:

The planning system does not exist to protect the private interests of one person against the activities of another. The basic question is not whether owners and occupiers of neighbouring properties would experience financial or other loss from a particular development, but whether the proposal would unacceptably affect amenities and the existing use of land and buildings which ought to be protected in the public interest.

Among the considerations of public interest which are valid planning issues are the effect of a proposal on:

• The environmental qualities of the surrounding area or the visual character of a street (this includes the scale, design and materials of buildings and the landscaping of a site);
• the amenity and privacy of dwellings;
• the character of an area in other senses (in terms of noise or other forms of pollution);
• road safety (both directly as in the case of a dangerous access or indirectly in terms of car parking and traffic generation);
• public services, such as drainage and water supply;
• public proposals for using the same land;
• public rights of way;
• the need to safeguard valuable resources such as good farmland or mineral reserves.

Matters which are not relevant

Several arguments are often made by both applicants and objectors which are not relevant planning issues, and these the committee is normally advised to disregard.

On the applicant's side, arguments of a personal kind are often put forward in support of an application. Only occasionally will these outweigh the more general planning considerations since buildings, for example, will remain long after the personal circumstances of the applicant have ceased to be relevant.

On the objector's side, arguments are often based on the following grounds, which are not valid planning issues. In such cases, officers will advise Councillors that such issues should not affect their decision:

• the fact that development has already begun (people can carry out development at their own risk before getting planning permission and the Council has to judge development on its own merits);
• the fact that an applicant has carried out unauthorised development in the past;
• 'trade objections' from potential competitors;
• moral objections, for instance against betting shops, lottery kiosks or amusement arcades;
• the belief that an application is submitted with the intention of selling the property at an enhanced value;
• the loss of an attractive view (for instance when development is proposed close to objector's houses);
• the fear that an objector's house might be devalued;
• the fact that the applicant does not own the land to which their application relates (this can be overcome by agreement with the owner);
• the fact that an objector is a tenant of land where development is proposed (the owner of the land can terminate the tenancy whether or not the development is carried out, and any consequences are therefore unrelated to the application);
• allegations that a proposal might affect private rights, (such considerations are legal matters, on which objectors should consult their own solicitor or advisor since it will not be possible for officers of the Council to advise as to such rights);
• financial matters.

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