Ashfield District Council: The Application Process

The Application Process

This page details the basic steps involved in the planning application process.

How do I make a planning application?

You can either make a planning application via the Planning Portal website, or by posting or delivering your application form to:

Planning Department
Ashfield District Council
Urban Road
Kirkby-In-Ashfield
Nottinghamshire
NG17 8DA.

What do I need to submit with my application?

You should check the Validation Lists to make sure you have included all the relevant documents and forms with your application.

For further advice please see "What do I need to submit?" or contact a Planning Officer.

What happens when I have submitted an application?

Once you have submitted an application it will need to be validated, to ensure that we have all the relevant information to deal with your application. Once this has been done your application will be allocated to a planning officer; it is this person that you will need to contact if you have any queries or want to know how the application is progressing.

Consultations will also be undertaken. A copy of the Council's Code of Conduct and Procedures (2004), which details the consultation procedure, is available from the main Council Offices or by searching Committee Reports & Minutes.

The case officer will undertake a site visit and may contact you if any matters need clarification.

How long will it take to get a decision?

The local planning authority has, by law, up to 8 weeks to determine applications or 13 weeks for major applications. If you wish to know about how your application is progressing you can either phone the case officer or use our search facility to find your planning application and to view its current status.

How is a decision made?

There are two ways in which a planning application can be decided:

Delegated powers – Where the Director has powers delegated to him to issue decisions. This is the case for around 90% of our planning applications

Planning Committee – For major or more contentious applications it may be the case that they are taken to Planning Committee. In certain circumstances, Councillors can request applications be reported to the Planning Committee. In this circumstance a report will be prepared by the case officer, along with a recommendation. One objector and one supporter are normally permitted to address the committee to express their views on the matter (see "speaking at the Planning Committee" for further information).

The Planning Committee, which is made up of Elected Members, then vote as to whether to agree or oppose the recommendation.