Bolton has a code of practice for publicity whereby local residents and others who adjoin or overlook an application site will be notified. If you are notified you should consider the description of the proposed development given in the letter and view the application details on this web site. If it is your neighbour who is applying to extend his/her house, you could ask him/her about it.
If you have any comments to make about the proposal, you should let the council have them as soon as possible. You will have 21 days to comment online; after this period you can comment by email. You can make comments about an application that you are aware of even if you have not been notified about it.
Following a site visit your comments will be fully considered by the case officer and the proposal judged against the relevant council policies and government advice, before a recommendation is made.
The council may wish to discuss any representations made with the applicant and under the terms of the Local government (Access to information) act. Such representations may be inspected by members of the public, and cannot be treated in confidence.
Comments on a planning application are not endorsed or supported by the Council. They are the opinion of the author of the comment. Any unlawful or offensive comments will be removed by the Council.
All comments made will be posted on the council’s web site and you may wish to take steps to prevent identity fraud such as not using a handwritten signature, personal email address or telephone number. If certain statements may be seen as discriminatory or defamatory and may be actionable, the council will blank out those parts
Some comments such as disputes about encroachment across boundaries, worries about disturbances whilst construction work takes place, concern about competition from traders or impact on the value of property are not planning matters and cannot be taken into account.
A planning application can be either approved, normally with conditions or refused with a justified planning reason.
Sometimes amendments will be suggested to the applicant, often based on comments made by neighbours, or to comply with council policy. These amendments will be displayed on this web site.
The council has a system of delegated powers under which certain applications are dealt with by the planning committee (see below); others are delegated to the director of development and regeneration. The decision of the committee is made following consideration of the recommendations of the case officer who summarises all the comments received. In the Westhoughton, Blackrod and Horwich areas the views of the town council are also taken into account.
In the interest of economy the council is not able to enter into individual correspondence about planning applications, nor is it always able to contact everyone who may sign a petition about an application, but we will usually contact the petition organiser if clearly identified.
If planning permission is refused, the applicant has the right to appeal against the decision. Further information can be found using the link on the right
If planning permission is granted, there is no procedure to allow interested parties such as neighbours) to appeal against the council’s decision.
The planning committee
The planning committee is the committee which deals with planning applications. Most applications are dealt with by planning officers under delegated powers but major applications are considered by the planning committee. The committee generally meets every four weeks at the town hall. You can appear at the meeting and make comments about the planning applications that are being considered. Information about committee dates, committee members and agendas can be found on the right.