5.3 Planning

(a) Description of responsibility

All the responsibilities in Paragraph A of Schedule 1 to the Local Authorities (Functions and Responsibilities) (England) Regulations 2000, the duty to deal with complaints about high hedges under Part 8 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 and the power to preserve trees under the Sections 197 to 214D of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, and the Trees Regulations 1999

(b) Who carries out the responsibility?

Full council decides applications that have been called in from strategic development control committee (see 18.3).

After consulting the area committees, the strategic development control committee:

• decides planning applications for more than 70 homes, for shops or commercial developments of more than 4,000 m², for health or university developments of more than 4,000 m², for student accommodation of more than 150 units or for mixed schemes of a similar cumulative scale

• decides planning applications that affect the city as a whole

• decides planning applications that cross area committee boundaries

• decides planning applications that have been called in from the area committees (see 18.3)

• decides planning applications that depart from the local development framework if officers are recommending approval and the council has to tell the secretary of state

• responds to consultation on planning policy with the county council or the surrounding districts when policy conflicts arise.

The following responsibilities are carried out by area committees (unless they fall into a category carried out by strategic development control committee):

• agreeing significant amendments to approved plans subsequent to the grant of planning permission or listed building consent
  
  
• deciding planning applications that have been called in during the 21-day consultation period (see 18.3)
  
  
• deciding planning applications for more than five residential units or for residential developments on sites with a site area of over 0.25 hectares
  
   
• deciding planning applications for non-residential developments on sites over 0.5 hectares 
  
  
• deciding planning applications for non-residential developments with new or increased floor space of more than 500 m²
  
  
• deciding planning applications by the council or by councillors or officers
  
  
• deciding planning applications where a councillor is the agent
  
  
• deciding how to spend any planning contributions over £10,000
  
  
• deciding planning applications for total or substantial demolition of listed buildings
  
  
• deciding planning applications for phone masts where there are objections (except applications that can go ahead unless the council refuses them within 56 days)
  
  
• confirming and revoking tree preservation orders where there are objections
  
  
• dealing with complaints about high hedges when the hedge is on the council's land or land occupied by a councillor or officer or when the complaint has come from a councillor or officer.

The head of city development does everything else.

Page last reviewed 15 Oct 2008