The planning system in a nutshell
Once a planning application is submitted and checked, there is public consultation arranged by Somerset Council; with a site notice and notification to adjacent neighbours, and to Somerset Councillors and the Parish or Town Council. These, along with statutory consultees such as Wessex Water and other council departments, and anyone else can comment on plans proposed.
The application is assessed by a planning case officer to judge whether it complies with local and national planning policies. At this stage, revisions may be made by the applicant in response to issues raised by the case officer and/or those commenting on the application. Further public and consultee comments can be made if there are significant revisions to the plans proposed.
Once consultation and assessment of the final application is complete, the case officers will prepare a report with a recommendation for a decision. For most applications, this decision is delegated to planning officers.
Reports for major or contentious applications may be referred to Planning Committee for councillors to take the decision, which could be to refuse, approve or approve with conditions.
There are rules to follow which are intended to ensure a fair process and judgement on all applications. These are covered in the council’s constitution (see below).
Those are also government rules on how local planning decisions are taken and how both local and national policies apply. In particular, government rules on 5-year housing supply targets can effect how decisions are taken.
After Somerset Council’s decision is taken, decisions are posted on Somerset Council’s planning portal for all applications. If wished, the applicant can appeal against the council’s decision to the government’s Planning Inspectorate. Objectors have no right of appeal, but, if wished and able to do so, could challenge whether the decision-making process was undertaken correctly by seeking a judicial review in the courts.
Guidance on viewing and commenting on applications
The following links provide guidance for viewing and commenting on planning applications:
Find a planning application – This is Somerset Council’s planning portal where planning applications, comments and decisions are posted. Applications in Upper Tone are in the Taunton Deane part of the West area (former Somerset West and Taunton district).
Material considerations – A guide on matters that should be taken into account in deciding a planning application or on an appeal against a planning decision.
Further guidance and information on the planning system is available at:
- Planning portal – planning
- Planning Aid England – knowledge base
- Do you need planning permission for home project
Planning Committee and policies
The following links provide information for those who wish to have a greater understanding of the planning process.
Planning Committee (West) – This link gives information on the membership and meetings for the Planning Committee covering our area. Most planning application decisions are delegated to officers. The Planning Committee decides applications considered to be significant or where requested by a division councillor or town or parish council and agreed by the Chair of Planning Committee.
Planning policies for Taunton Deane – Planning applications should comply with local planning policies in the adopted Local Plan and associated documents. To judge compliance, a balanced approach is taken based on the relative weight of various material considerations, which can make the process difficult to predict and understand.
National Planning Policy Framework – This sets out the Government’s planning policies for England and how these should be applied. It provides a framework within which locally-prepared plans for housing and other development are produced.
Somerset Council Constitution – This includes Terms of Reference for the Planning Committee, a Code of Conduct for Councillors (also known as Members) and a Code of Good Practice for Planning.
Probity in planning – Advice for councillors and officers making planning decisions.
