What's new in planning

All officers are now working remotely and are available by email. Not all officers are equipped with mobile phones. However, they are able to access answerphone messages remotely. They will get back to you as soon as they are able. 

Free planning advice for businesses

Businesses may be considering different ways of working to help recovery from Covid-19. We are offering free initial planning advice direct to businesses in a 30-minute virtual meeting.  You will need to pre-book a session in advance.  Available dates include:

• Tuesday 20 April - morning
• Tuesday 27 April - morning
• Tuesday 4 May - morning

To book a session, please email Jade Christophers at planning@cornwall.gov.uk.  Please include the questions you wish to ask so we can make these meetings as useful as possible.

Charlestown Conservation Area - consultation

The Charlestown Conservation Area Character Appraisal and Management Plan is being reviewed.  St Austell Bay Parish Council are working with the Cornwall Archaeological Unit.  The Management Plan is:

• an important document
• a material consideration in planning applications.

The Parish Council is consulting local residents and stakeholders on the draft revised document.  The consultation is live from 1 February to 30 March 2021.  If you wish to comment, you can:

• see the draft plan and feedback form on the parish council website
• contact the parish clerk at enquiries@staustellbay-pc.gov.uk if you require:
• a hard copy of the document
• another format.

Updated Class Q guidance

Please note we have updated our guidance.  The Class Q guidance note (February 2021) and other technical notes can be found on the Planning Technical Updates page.

Response to latest Government planning consultation

We submitted our response to the consultation on Supporting housing delivery and public service infrastructure on 28 January 2021.

Changes to use classes

You can find out more about the changes to use classes using this link to our new Use Class factsheet.

Increase in fees for discretionary planning products and services

Please note that discretionary fees increased on 1 January 2021.  Most fees increased by 4%. However certain products increased by more than that amount on a cost recovery basis. Our charges are just below the average for similar products and services by other authorities.  Please see our Planning Fees page for more information.

New fee for hard copy planning applications

Cornwall Council has declared a climate emergency.  We need to increase electronic working to support this.  There is now a charge for handling planning applications and associated documents submitted on paper. Please see our Validation Updates page for details.

You may wish to consider submitting online via the Planning Portal or emailing us direct at planning@cornwall.gov.uk.

Invalid Planning Application Charge

From 1 April 2021, there will be a charge for handling invalid planning applications.  Please see our Validation Updates page for details.  You could consider our validation checking service.  This will ensure the correct information is submitted first time.

Contact details in planning application documents

Our Service must comply with the General Data Protection Regulations. We will be redacting the following information from all documents available to view on the online planning register:

• non-generic email addresses such as direct email addresses which include a person's name
• all mobile numbers.

Some agents may wish to have their contact details publicly available.  In this case, please use:

• generic business email addresses such as reception@ or enquiries@
• landline numbers.