You can contact Elected Division Ward Members direct about planning applications. Members are able to:
- influence and
- comment on decisions that are made by the authority.
This will:
- allow Members to represent the interests of their community and
- help deliver better decision making.
Elected Members are subject to legal control which covers:
- conduct and
- responsibility in carrying out their role.
An awareness of the key issues is relevant to the carrying out of these functions.
Members have a responsibility of making decisions that affect their local area. This includes:
- providing for new development
- protecting the environment and
- delivering social progress through the proper planning of their areas.
The latter includes
- the full range of housing
- employment
- retail and
- leisure provision and
- some less obvious but equally vital issues such as:
- meeting the need for waste-management facilities and
- minerals development.
Elected Members will also have a role in representing their wards when there are planning applications in their area:
- either as a Ward Member or
- as a member of the Planning Committee, when determining planning applications.
At a planning committee, Ward Members will need to think about their wider responsibility to the authority and not just their local area.
The planning protocol for Members is a flow diagram showing how Divisional Ward Members get involved in the planning process.
