RCC Planning Protocol: The role of the community council in local planning applications
The RCC has adopted the following protocol for its role in commenting on, and engaging with, the community with regards to local planning applications.
Please find the updated RCC Planning Protocol below (click on the image for the full document):
Planning and Biodiversity
You can read more about how planning applications are viewed from a biodiversity perspective here and view the Biodiversity and environmental impact checklist here.
Links to Swansea Council Planning
Swansea Council’s Planning pages provide a range of information on issues related to planning, including planning application searches, planning enforcement, even Tree Preservation Orders and high hedges!
Click on the button below to do a simple search on Swansea’s Planning site.
If you know the planning reference you can enter that, or use a postcode or single line of an address. You can view the weekly Decision Lists here.
The pages on Planning applications take you through all the stages of the planning process, including how to apply.
Swansea Council Planning presentation at Rhossili
Mr Ian Davies, Development Manager at the City & County of Swansea Planning Department attended the RCC meeting in June 2023 to talk about planning. Ahead of the meeting, community members had been invited to submit questions for Mr Davies. We collated these and they can be viewed here (opens in a new tab).
Mr Davies’ slides can be viewed here or viewed as a PDF document here. Slide 9 may be of interest, where Mr Davies outlines what is not a material consideration in assessing applications.
With thanks to Mr Davies.
Gower Design Guide & Swansea’s Local Development Plan
Read the Placemaking Guidance for the Gower AONB Design Guide from Swansea Council here. It’s 414 pages but worth dipping into!
Swansea’s Local Development Plan (LDP) is another important document in guiding planning decisions as it sets out the statutory development plan for the the Council. You can read more about this on their website at https://www.swansea.gov.uk/ldp. A review of this plan is now underway and you can learn more about it at https://www.swansea.gov.uk/RLDP.
Planning Aid Wales has a range of guidance publications which are free to dowload. Another useful resource is the Welsh Government’s Planning: a guide for householders.
Submitting Comments
Anyone can submit a comment on a planning application and RCC encourages residents to do so. Comments submitted from residents to the Planning Department carry as much, if not more, weight as comments submitted by RCC, which has to represent a range of views from the community.
The Swansea Council site advises: You can comment on a planning application via the planning application search. Search for the application number and click on the ‘comment on application’ link.
NB. Any comment that is submitted about a planning application, regardless of the nature of the response, is not visible to the public until after a decision has been published.