As a Parish Council we look at planning applications. We consider the application carefully and often make site visits. As locals we will know background information and also who is likely to be affected by the application. People can come to a meeting when we are discussing an application and express an opinion (They have three minutes to do so). Considering all the information available the council then takes a vote on the application. This is usually either to support it or object. However we often add more detailed observations to help the planning officer make a decision.
It is important to understand – the Parish Council can only express an opinion which is taken into account by the Wiltshire Planning officer. The Planning Officer makes the decision.
However, one additional power the Parish Council has, is to ask our local Wiltshire Councillor to ‘Call it in’. This can happen when the Parish Council has a strong opinion about a contentious application and feel the planning decision must be scrutinised by the local Wiltshire Council planning committee. This does not happen very often.
Applications and decisions for Tisbury