Wiltshire Council is responsible for making all final decisions on Planning applications within the county. As part of the planning process, parish councils are consulted on every application and asked whether they would like to support or oppose them. If you have a comment about an application in your area you must submit comments yourself to Wiltshire Council, however, you can also let us know your thoughts to help direct our decision making.

The Parish Council has the opportunity to inspect and consider applications on behalf of the community and make their recommendations to Wiltshire Council. Applications to be considered will appear on every Parish Council agenda so that residents are aware of them.

Anyone can comment on any current planning application during the consultation period and parishioners are encouraged to do so on the Wiltshire Council Planning Portal and also at Parish Council meetings. You will also find all historical planning applications and related decisions on Wiltshire Council’s portal.

Applications for Planning Permission have to be submitted to the Planning Department at Wiltshire Council where they are assessed for compliance under Planning policy. If the application is straightforward it may be dealt with at officer level. If controversial it may be referred to the relevant Planning Committee. In extreme cases appeals procedures may be sought which are overseen by outside Planning Inspectors.

In all cases, Wiltshire Council has the statutory duty to consult fully with all relevant organisations and charities. For example Historic England, The Campaign to Protect Rural England, the Bat Conservation Trust, The Highways Authority and many more, including local Parish Councils.

As a Parish Council we will also discuss every application and offer our support to it or oppose it. We base this decision on our own local guidance such as our Neighbourhood Plan or Conservation Area Statement.

As a consultee for each application we provide guidance to Wiltshire Council’s Planning officers as to whether there is support for the application locally. This carries a lot of weight.

We are very happy to help you fine-tune your Planning application so that it meets the standards we look for as a Parish Council. We can offer open discussion and guidance on what we would find acceptable and unacceptable in your proposal. By taking this pro-active approach BEFORE you submit your application to Wiltshire Council you can be confident that you will do so with our support.

Likewise, as a resident of the parish you may feel strongly about a third-party application; either that you support it, or oppose it. By sharing your views with us we can better understand the impact of an application locally and may choose to add our support to your views.