Parish Planning

Planning Committee
Planning is a diverse and emotive subject. Catshill and North Marlbrook Parish Council has a Committee that is dedicated to reviewing and commenting on any Planning related matters that are brought to the Council’s attention. This can include contributing to consultations on Planning Policies, addressing concerns about developments that affect the Parish and commenting on Planning Applications.

Who makes the Planning Decisions?

The Planning Authority for deciding on planning applications in Catshill and North Marlbrook Parish is Bromsgrove District Council (BDC).  The planning application process requires BDC to consult parish councils on the majority of new applications. BDC is not obliged to formally consult the Parish Council on the following: Advertisement Consent applications; Certificate of Lawfulness applications; Listed Building Consent applications; Non-Material amendment applications and Prior Notification (including Larger Home Extension) applications.  

Catshill and North Marlbrook Parish Council (PC) delegates responding to consultations to the Parish Council’s Planning Committee. They consider each application and submit their comments to BDC within a prescribed timescale.  These comments must be either object or support, additional views can also be expressed. The comments must be based on what are called material planning considerations*, (see list below). Also, the PC’s Planning Committee sometimes initiates comments on major applications not in the parish but considered to be of interest. Very occasionally, when it is not possible for Planning Committee to meet BDC’s consultation deadline, no comments are submitted.

BDC is obliged to deal with minor applications within 8 weeks of being formally registered and within 13 weeks if it is a major application. For developments accompanied by an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), it is 16 weeks. There are two ways in which applications are decided. The first, for non-major applications, is under delegated powers which means the decision is made by BDC Planning Officers. The second is by BDC’s Planning Committee (made up of District Councillors) at their monthly meeting. This is open to the public. BDC’s Planning Committee decide major applications and any others “called in” by the relevant District Ward Councillor for the application site, (see below). In both cases our Planning Committee’s comments are taken into account. If you make comments on a planning application which is to be decided at Planning Committee, you will be invited to attend the meeting and address the Committee should you wish to do so. You may also attend the meeting to just observe.

During the pandemic, the Planning Committee meetings at BDC are being held virtually, using the video conferencing facility of Skype.  This includes the ability to participate through the public speaking process.  The meetings can be viewed through YouTube. The District Council’s website includes a link to the live stream that commences at the start of each meeting. Please note that from January 2021 BDC will be moving from the Skype platform to Microsoft Teams. 

How can you comment or register your objections to an application?

You can find out about current planning applications in the parish in two ways. Firstly through BDC’s Planning Portal: https://www.bromsgrove.gov.uk/planning-and-building-control/view-and-comment-on-planning-applications.aspx
Secondly by viewing the agenda for any forthcoming meeting of the PC’s Planning Committee. This will show brief details of any applications upon which the PC have been consulted. Also, if you live close to a live application you may receive a letter from BD  giving you the opportunity to comment.

You are welcome to attend the PC’s Planning Committee meetings to comment on any application. Details of these are on each meeting’s agenda which can be found:

·       On each of the PC’s notice boards, (Old Birmingham Road near the junction with Braces Lane; Ivy Cottage Garden; Village Hall and Meadow Road by Catshill Working Men’s Club)

·       On the PC’s website http://www.catshillandnorthmarlbroopc.gov.uk/agendas-and-minutes/

The agendas are published at least three working days before each meeting and a schedule of future meetings can be found at: http://www.catshillandnorthmarlbrook-pc.gov.uk/timetable-of-meetings

If in doubt please contact the Parish Clerk on the email address above or by phone on  01527 873266 Please note the Parish Office is only open on Monday and Tuesday mornings between the hours of 09:45 and 11:15. Outside of these hours please leave a message. Please note that the Parish Office is closed during the current Covid 19 crisis.

If you wish to support or object to a planning application you can send your comments direct to BDC (please note that submitted comments are publicly accessible). You may also wish to make your comments known to your local parish councillor and/or a member of the PC’s Planning Committee (details also below). If the latter then please send them your comments before the meeting that has the application on its agenda. Comments can also be sent to the Parish Clerk either by email or post (contact details below). Again, these must be received in advance of the meeting that has the application on the agenda. You can also contact your District Ward Councillor to share your views with him or her. Your Ward Councillor can consider if the planning application ought to be decided by BDC’s Planning Committee, rather than by the Case Officer using delegated powers.  Your District Councillor can ask for any application to be ‘called in’ to be decided by BDC’s Planning Committee, but strict timescales for this apply. It is therefore important that
early contact is made with your District Councillor if you feel the application should be called in.

If the application of concern to you is to be decided by BDC’s Planning Committee, you may wish to attend their meeting. In addition, you can request to address the committee to voice your objections or support, with a maximum of 3 minutes per party to do so. You need to request to do this in advance and arrangements will be made by the Committee’s Clerk according to the number of people wanting to speak. This may mean that the three minutes speaking time will need to be shared. 

What happens after the District Council has made its decision? 

The applicant is notified of the outcome as soon as the decision has been made by either BDC’s Planning Officers or its Planning Committee. BDC will also notify their decision to all those who submitted comments to them.  Additionally, details of the decision can be viewed on:  https://www.bromsgrove.gov.uk/planning-and-building-control/view-and-comment-on-planning-applications.aspx
decisions of BDC are also subsequently reported to the PC’s Planning Committee and can be seen on the relevant agenda or minutes.

If the applicant is not happy with the outcome, they have the right to appeal to the Planning Inspectorate, which is an executive agency sponsored by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/planning-inspectorate

Appeals are dealt with by the Planning Inspectorate. If you had submitted comments on the original application, then BDC will contact you to advise of the appeal, the procedure and the opportunity to comment further.  The deadline for comments varies according to the application type that is being appealed.

There is however no third-party right of appeal, which means that although you may be dissatisfied with the outcome it is not possible for you or the Parish Council to appeal or ask for the decision to be reconsidered. Any challenge to the determination process by third parties would need to be by way of a Judicial Review (JR).  It is important to understand that a JR is not a re-run on the merits of the decision but a challenge to the lawfulness of the decision that was made.  A JR on planning cases must be started within six weeks from the date of the decision.  This will require the need to obtain independent legal advice.  

Further reading:  https://www.bromsgrove.gov.uk/planning-and-building-control/planning-permission/faqs-the-planning-application-process.aspx;  https://www.planningportal.co.uk/  

Contact Details

1. Parish Council

Members of Planning Committee

Cllr. Tessa Gillespie – Chair Person

Ward: Marlbrook 

Email: t.gillespie@catshillandnorthmarlbrook-pc.gov.uk

Tel: 07583 637250

Cllr. Jackie Alderson – Vice Chair

 Ward: Woodrow 

Email: j.alderson@catshillandnorthmarlbrook-pc.gov.uk

Tel: 07445 959679

Cllr. Paul Masters

Ward: Barley Meadow

Email: p.masters@catshillandnorthmarlbrook-pc.gov.uk

Tel: 01527 579737

Cllr. Bernard McEldowney
Ward: Marlbrook

Email: b.mceldowney@catshillandnorthmarlbrook-pc.gov.uk

Tel: 07957 576946

If you are considering making a Planning Application, a wealth of information can be found at the following link: http://www.bromsgrove.gov.uk/planning-and-building-control.aspx .

All Committees of the Parish Council are open to the public. If you have any views or concerns you wish to share, then please see our Parish Notice Boards or the ‘Meetings and Committees’ page of this website for more information as to when the next meeting will be taking place. Alternatively, please contact the Parish Clerk.

*Planning Material Considerations

These are the matters that should be taken into account when
deciding whether to grant planning permission, such as, but not limited to, the
following matters: 

• Overlooking/loss of privacy
• Loss of light or overshadowing
• Parking
• Highway safety
• Traffic
• Noise
• Effect on listed building and conservation area
• Layout and density of building
• Design, appearance and materials
• Government policy
• Disabled persons’ access
• Policies in BDC’s Development Plan
• Policies in the Neighbourhood Plan (once fully approved)
• Previous planning decisions (including appeal decisions)
• Nature conservation

Issues such as loss of view, or negative effect on the value of properties are not material considerations.

See also: https://www.bromsgrove.gov.uk/media/2445955/Material-Considerations-Sheet.pd