Planning permission- delay in registering it

[WatchyMcWatchdog]

Please can any planners or people who have gone through the planning process recently tell me how long I should expect to wait for my planning application to appear on the local authority website? I appreciate it differs from area to area so I'd like a rough idea. Given I submitted everything electronically I expected a day or two but it's been over 2 weeks with me chasing twice.

Have they given a reason?
The most common reason is because the application is missing information. It will only appear on the website once it has been validated - ie checked that all the required plans, information etc are included and that the relevant fee has been paid.

It can take a couple of weeks. Planning departments are just as short staffed as other public sector functions.

They said it's being dealt with in date order but they are recruiting for more in that department I happen to know. Usually we have 'registered' then 'validated' it can be the same or different dates. I'm expecting a delay in validating as it's my first one but I need it to be registered before they feedback any mistakes.

It may well be registered, but it won't appear on the website until it's validated. It would be too confusing to have application with missing or incorrect information in the public domain.

Is it a large or complicated application?

I've seen ones on our planning portal which have been registered not validated I promise! (I was noseying around when a friend was doing a self build) Yes it's not straightforward and there literally wasn't a form choice on the national portal that fitted so I went with full planning permission because the planning officer assigned at pre app stage never answered the phone

I've dealt with dozens of councils and never seen that before!

Also the Portal has loads of different application forms - it must be really unusual.

It's now been 4 weeks and 1 day. I've emailed 3 times for updates and have had no reply to my latest one a week ago. Is there a time limit for them to process them please?

Why do you want it to appear on their website? That bares little reflection on whether it is being processed or not. Have you had a validation letter? That will detail when the application was registered.

No no validation letter. Nothing other than 'it's being processed in date order'. Surely the 8 week public consultation process doesn't start until it's on the website so permission is delayed until after then?

Have they definitely got the application? I'd be ringing them to check after this amount of time.

I think as others have said speak to the duty planning officer and ask if the application has been validated. Your questions of on the website is not going to get the answer you need. That is not relevent. The consultation with neighbours wil be via letter and a yellow sign to display outside the house.

Can you describe the work and we can help you with what type of application it is? eg. Full planning costs a lot more than Householder, so you don't want to make a mistake there.

I imagine that the department is just overrun with work.

As I said, I have never seen an application appear on a Council website until it has been validated.

You are correct that the 8 weeks won't start until it is formally registered, and it will then go live on the website, and the Council will carry out any consultations that are necessary.

Unless it is a straightforward householder application, I doubt that it will be determined within the 8 weeks. Obviously then you can decide whether it might be better to lodge an appeal for non-determination. However, PINS are taken an age with appeals at the moment too, so you may be better off just sticking with the Council.

I would ring the planning department - probably need to speak to admin rather than a planning officer, as it's usually admin that deal with the validation process. It will then be allocated to an Officer. Unless you have had pre-application discussions with an Officer, none of them will be aware that it exists until it is allocated to one.

I assume you received acknowledgement from the Planning Portal that the application and fee had been received?

If so, if hte application still hasn't been registered after the expiry of 8 weeks (assuming it is a standard application), it is possible to appeal PINS on non-determination. they will consider whether the application is valid, as well as determining the application.

see advice from the Planning Portal here

It isn't a house building application. It's for community equipment on land already being used in the same way but much more equipment. There are neighbouring properties though and there are currently no white/yellow laminated notices nearby.

The planning department has confirmed they have received it but haven't officially registered or validated it yet.

I don't expect a single objection (community chomping at the bit for more stuff they've raised the money for!) but we can't get it sited on the land till permission is granted.

I will phone on Friday when I'm out of the office. I got paid for pre app 'advice' from a planning officer so I do have a named contact but they do not answer their direct line so I have to call the general number anyway.

Once it's on the website the community will believe it's happening after all their hard work!

@WatchyMcWatchdog If it's a community project type thing I would contact your local Councillor and get them to chase the planning department. They should be able to get an answer for you if nothing else.

Neighbour consultations, site notices etc won't happen until the application is formally registered.

Yeah I have cc'd her in to my latest email (Monday) with no response yet and she said she'd chased it herself at a meeting last week without success.

I just wondered if the first I'd know it had been registered was the signs going up but nope. The chair of our local community group has asked for an update as she can't find the application online and (nicely) wondered what was going on. Not my incompetence!