The Planning and Housing Service have a number of teams who deal with different areas of planning and housing. You can see how this Service and the Local Planning Authority works using these structure diagrams (updated March 2024):
You can find more information on Housing team functions on our main Housing page.
You can contact officers by email. If you wish to speak to an officer, you can:
- call a mobile number
- leave a message on office landline numbers
Officers can pick up messages on office numbers using Microsoft Teams.
You can find out more about the planning service teams using the links below.
Land Charges
What we do
A local land charge is a restriction on a piece of land or property that can:
- limit its use or
- bind the owner to a payment of a sum of money.
The land charges team search the land charges register for potential purchasers of properties and land.
Find out more about local land charges.
Planning Policy
What we do
- Create the planning vision and strategy for Cornwall. This will set out how development will take place to 2030 and beyond.
- Produce the Cornwall Local Plan and other policy documents. The Local Plan sets out policies used to decide planning applications.
- Monitor the delivery of development
- Monitor how well our policies are used
- Neighbourhood Planning
Find out more about the Cornwall Local Plan and Neighbourhood Planning
Sustainable Development
What we do
- Lead on spatial strategies for our towns. These will contribute to Planning Policy.
- Support Place Shaping activity in larger communities
- Work with developers and land owners on strategic development opportunities
- Attract funding for Cornwall to deliver major schemes
Find out more about spatial planning
Planning Enforcement and Appeals
What we do
- Investigate complaints about suspected breaches of planning
- Take enforcement action against breaches of planning
- Deal with appeals against decisions
- Apply for appeal costs awards
- Communicate learning from appeal decisions
- Monitor and enforce on minerals and waste sites
Find out more about planning enforcement.
Development Management
We work in an area team structure of 8 planning teams and Cornwall-wide specialists. Find out more about the area planning teams.
What we do
We provide pre-application advice and decide planning and related applications.
We deal with the following types of planning applications:
- Minor applications
- Major applications (more than 10 dwellings or a floor space of more than 1,000 square metres)
- Householder applications (extensions, accesses, outbuildings, renewables and alterations to a property)
- Listed Building consents
- Certificates of Lawfulness
- Tree Preservation Orders
- Works to trees in a conservation area
- Minor amendments
- Discharge of conditions
- Minerals and waste applications
Planning officers decide most applications using delegated permissions. The Planning Committees deal with the most complex and contentious applications.
Find out more about planning advice and guidance and Planning Committees.
Planning Support
What we do
- Support the development management teams in processing planning applications
- Validate and register applications
- Handle general planning enquiries
- Process history searches
