Participating in a planning committee meeting

When are applications decided by Planning Committee?

The Council operates a system of delegated powers where the majority of applications are dealt with by Council Officers. If an application is decided under delegated powers the case officer writes a report and makes a recommendation, with the final decision being made by a Senior Officer. Applications that are not delegated are decided by Planning Committee, the Council’s Constitution sets out the circumstances when an application will be decided by the Committee.

What happens at the Planning Committee?

The agenda for the meeting will include a report for each of the planning applications that will be decided by Planning Committee. The report is prepared by the Council’s expert planning officers and summarises all of the matters that are relevant to deciding the application. The report will weigh up the facts and recommend whether planning permission should be approved or refused.

Planning Committee meetings are usually held at 6 pm in the Council Chamber Municipal Building in Huyton Village Town Centre and are ‘live streamed’ on the Council’s website. The meetings are undertaken in accordance with the following procedure:

• The Chairperson introduces the application.
• A Planning Officer will make a short presentation to members of the Planning Committee based on the agenda report.
• Members of the public who have registered to speak against the proposed development are invited to address the committee.
• A Planning Officer gives points of clarification on the matters raised.
• Committee members ask Officers any questions about the objector’s presentation (if Officers are unable to answer, the speaker will be invited to respond, followed by further clarification if required).
• Members of the public who have registered to speak in favour of the proposed development are invited to address the committee.
• A Planning Officer gives points of clarification on the matters raised.
• Committee members ask Officers any questions about the supporter’s presentation (if Officers are unable to answer the speaker will be invited to respond, followed by further clarification if required)
• If they have registered to speak, the applicant or their representative is invited to address the committee.
• A Planning Officer gives points of clarification on the matters raised.
• Committee members ask Officers any questions about the presentation (if Officers are unable to answer, the speaker will be invited to respond, followed by further clarification if required).
• The Planning Committee debates the application and asks officers questions.
• The Planning Committee moves to approve or refuse the application, and a vote is taken.
• The chairperson informs the meeting of the decision.

How can I find out if an application will be decided by Planning Committee and can I participate?

Planning Committee usually meets on a monthly basis, details of the meetings and the published agendas can be found on the Council’s website (agendas are published 5 working days before the date of the meeting).

If you are interested in a particular application you can ‘track’ it on the Council’s Planning Public Access website and you will be notified when the status of the application changes.

Anybody can register to speak at the Planning Committee, but you must register to do so by 12 pm the day before the meeting by emailing planning.speaking@knowsley.gov.uk with the following information:

• Your name, address and telephone number.
• Application number and details of the relevant application.
• Whether you support or oppose the application.
• If you are happy for your details to be shared with others who register the same request to speak. This will enable you to arrange who speaks and for how long.
• Whether you are nominating anybody to speak on your behalf. If so, you need to provide their name and contact details.

You must provide the details listed above. Please do not seek to use this as an opportunity to restate or add to your representations already made to Planning Services.

You can contact Democratic Services on 0151 443 3582 before the 12 pm deadline to make sure they have received your request to speak at the meeting. You should allow enough time to comply with the procedure in the event that they have not received your request.

If an item is deferred you must register your request to speak again, requests to speak will not be ‘carried over’.

You should arrive at the committee meeting at least 15 minutes before it starts and alert the Committee Clerk of your presence.

If you do not want to address the meeting you are still able to attend or you can view a live web stream on the Council’s website.

All attendees at a Planning Committee meeting will be required to follow the Council’s policy on behaviour and conduct which can be found here. Photo ID must be provided before entering the meeting.

What matters can I raise?

The Planning Committee can only consider certain matters, which are called ‘material planning considerations’. In order to make the best use of your time, you should ensure that your presentation does not include matters that are not material planning considerations.

If your presentation includes ‘non-material’ matters, Council Officers will tell the Planning Committee that they must not consider them when deciding the application. There is not an exhaustive list of what are and aren’t material planning considerations, but the Planning Portal sets out some common matters.

Impacts on house prices, loss of a view, the character of an applicant, competition, restrictive covenants, boundary disputes, private rights of access, matters controlled under separate legislation (such as Building Regulations, Environmental Permits etc) are not material considerations.

How long will I have to speak?

The Council allows public speakers a minimum of 3 minutes; however, for those applications that have generated the most public interest, more time is allocated as set out in the table below (the Chairperson may agree to an extension of speaking times if there are exceptional circumstances).

** A representation is defined as an individual letter (not a circular style letter or petition). 

Speaking time is evenly distributed between the speakers in each of the categories (e.g. if there are 3 public objectors, they will each be given 1 minute to speak). However, the number of public speakers in each category is capped, so no one person has less than 1 minute to address the committee (i.e. if objectors have 3/5/8 minutes available, only 3/5/8 people can speak in objection to an application). In order to make the best use of the committee’s time, no speaker will be allocated more than 3 minutes.

If the number of people registered exceeds the number of slots, then the registered speakers will be given the opportunity to elect a spokesperson. In the unlikely event that they are unable or unwilling to do so, the Committee’s Clerk will draw names from a hat.