Contact the Duty Planning Officer

The Planning Helpdesk can help with:

• general enquiries
• requests for information
• providing the planning history for a particular site (please telephone in advance to ensure that it is made available for you for your visit)
• making Planning Applications available for you to view in person at the Planning Helpdesk, or online

If your enquiry is complicated or detailed, our helpdesk will refer you to the Duty Planning Officer.

The Duty Planning Officer is only available by telephone between 9:30am and 12:45pm each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Any advice the Duty Planning Officer gives is informal, non-binding and will not pre-judge the outcome of any subsequent planning application.
 

The Duty Planning Officer can:

• give general advice on Permitted development
• explain relevant planning policies
• advise on site constraints, as indicated on the Local Plan maps 
• explain planning applications and application drawings
• explain planning conditions generally
• advise on the planning process, including the application and appeals processes
• explain procedures, including the council's 'Delegated' and 'Committee' processes

The Duty Planning Officer can't:

• advise whether planning permission is required for a proposal (refer to the Planning Portal for further advice - for written confirmation that planning permission is not required for your proposal, you'll need to apply for a 'Certificate of Lawfulness for a Proposed Use or Development')
• discuss the specific merits of current or recently determined planning applications or appeals
• research a proposal for you
• search or review the detailed planning history for a particular site (the Planning Helpdesk can help - see below)
• provide pre (or post) application advice - there's a formal pre-application process for this
• give an opinion on plans or proposals for a particular property or site
• advise of the authorised use of a particular property or site
• advise whether information submitted for the discharge of planning conditions or for amendments to a planning permission is likely to be acceptable
• provide written advice

If your enquiry relates to a specific matter relating to Conservation and Listed Buildings, Minerals and Waste, or Enforcement, please contact an officer in the relevant team for advice in the first instance rather than the Duty Planning Officer.

If your enquiry relates to a specific planning application or appeal, please contact the case officer dealing with that application or appeal in the first instance. The exception to this is when it's a general enquiry concerning an application or appeal, or you're a neighbour seeking general advice, in which case the Duty Planning Officer can help.