Planning and Building Control

UPDATE FROM DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT - 02.04.2020

Due to the current circumstances arising from the COVID-19 outbreak, and taking into consideration Government Guidance, Torridge District Council's Planning Service will not be carrying out any non-essential site visits. This also means that we will no longer be displaying site notices next to every site, but just the ones that we are statutorily required to. We will however seek to notify near neighbours of all proposals. All planning applications that have been submitted can be viewed on our website at https://publicaccess.torridge.gov.uk/online-applications/

Officers are currently still available on the phone for advice and guidance and it is not anticipated at this stage that this will limit our ability to determine planning applications. As the situation unfolds this will of course be monitored and the position may change. Thank you for your understanding. 

Validation Update

Planning Support are currently validating applications and returned invalid information received on 21 May 2020 - Last updated 1 June 2020

Construction site working hours to enable social distancing working practices

On 13 May 2020, the government published a written ministerial statement on planning and construction working hours. This statement expects local planning authorities to approve requests to extend construction working hours temporarily to ensure safe working in line with social distancing guidelines until 9pm, Monday to Saturday, unless there are very compelling reasons against this.

If you wish to amend your conditioned construction working hours, you should contact us by emailing planningsupport@torridge.gov.uk .

We will be able to tell you whether we are happy to agree amended working hours informally, or whether you need to submit a formal application, as well as through which route. Where there are modest or short-term changes to construction working hours, we hope to be able to agree them informally, and we will use our discretion to avoid enforcing against a breach of working hours. Where long or more significant changes to working hours are required, we may request a formal application. In doing so, it will be important for you to consider potential impacts and, where necessary, to put forward plans to manage concerns, drawing on existing good practice.

  • We will be supportive of reasonable requests.

  • We will accept proposals for extended working hours unless there are very strong reasons against this.

  • We will ensure that decisions are issued within 10 days where possible. 

  • We will try and make a soft and user-friendly process where possible.

  • In making our decision, we may consider there are unreasonable impacts, but we will reject proposals only where there are very compelling reasons. These reasons could include the significant impact on neighbouring businesses or uses, such as care homes, which are particularly sensitive to noise, dust or vibration, which cannot be overcome through other mitigation, or where impacts on densely populated areas would be unreasonable. 

  • We will consider the fact that more people are spending more time at home, including working from home. We will balance their reasonable expectations for the acoustic environment in their home against the desire to ensure that necessary construction work can continue.

  • We may ask you to do noise or other monitoring to demonstrate that the impact of the extended hours on neighbours is not unreasonable.

  • Provisions under the Control of Pollution Act 1974 and the Environmental Protection Act 1990 can be used by the Environmental Protection team if noise or other nuisances from building works are considered to be causing material interference with the use or enjoyment of neighbouring properties. This could include restricting hours of work.

For further advice please contact planningsupport@torridge.gov.uk

 

 

 

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    6. Privacy Notice

      Torridge District Council collects stores and processes your personal information in accordance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) and Data Protection Act 2018.

      Our lawful basis has been determined as:

      • Public Task – in relation to personal data
      • Social Security Law – in relation to ‘special category’ personal data.

      Personal information provided on this form may be shared with other council services where this assists in the delivery of those services.

      Personal information provided on this form may be shared with third parties where we are legally obliged to do so, or where this is necessary to enable us to provide the service requested.

      To view our full privacy policy including information on your rights, how to contact the Data Protection Officer, data retention information, more detail on information sharing and how to provide feedback or make a complaint, please see the privacy pages of our website.

      This may be viewed from https://www.torridge.gov.uk/privacypolicy/

      Alternatively, a full copy of our privacy policy can be viewed at our main office or a copy can be requested by writing to the Data Protection Officer at:

      Torridge District Council
      Riverbank House
      Bideford
      Devon
      EX39 2QG.