Commenting on an application

Guidance for local communities to prepare responses to minerals, waste or County Council development proposals

The Statement of Community Involvement forms the basis of our procedures for community engagement on minerals, waste and our planning applications. The SCI sets out how Hampshire will involve local communities and interested parties in minerals and waste decision making.

Our Statement of Community Involvement

Receiving a notification letter

We will send you a letter if your property falls within a certain distance of a proposed minerals, waste or County Council development site. The letter states how to view the planning application details and submit your comments.

Our officers will also post site notices around the development site.

View an application

You can view the planning application on our website, via the link in the notification letter or by using the search facility. You can also view the application at our Winchester offices with an appointment.

The notification letter states the Case Officer allocated to the application. Contact the Case Officer to discuss the proposal or if you are have difficulty viewing the documents.

Prepare a response

Study the planning application then submit your comments which:

  • support the proposal
  • object to the proposal or
  • make general observations about the proposal

Anyone can object, support or provide general comments on a planning application. This is regardless of where they live or how they learned of the proposal.

You must base your comments on material planning considerations.

Any representations which contain offensive language or libellous comments are not acceptable and will not be published.

Accepted comments

Accepted comments include:

  • planning policies (adopted and emerging)
  • overshadowing/loss of outlook / privacy
  • Government / previous appeal decisions and planning Inquiry reports
  • storage and handling of hazardous materials / contaminated land
  • loss of sunlight
  • relevant case law
  • highway / traffic issues
  • noise/ disturbance resulting;
  • smells and fumes
  • capacity of physical infrastructure
  • deficiencies in social facilities
  • pre-application discussions
  • incompatible or unacceptable uses
  • layout and density of building design and
  • impact on ecology

Unaccepted comments

Unaccepted comments include:

  • previous objections/representations
  • factual misrepresentation of the proposal
  • opposition to the principle of development when settled by outline planning permission / appeal
  • matters controlled under building regulations / non-planning legislation
  • impact on property values
  • private issues between neighbours
  • loss of private views
  • business competition

Submit your comments

Submit your comments within the publicised public consultation period. The dates are given in the notification letter or on site notices.

Make sure your submission includes your name, your address and address of the application you are commenting on, so that we can take your comments into consideration. We cannot accept anonymous, confidential or representations without the required contact information.

You can email your comments to [email protected]. You will receive an acknowledgement email upon receipt of representations sent by email.

Alternatively post your comments to:

Development Management
Universal Services
Hampshire County Council
The Castle
Winchester, SO23 8UD

We should receive comments no later than the closing date for the public consultation, unless we have agreed to an extension. You will not be able to make comments via the comments form on the webpages outside of the consultation period. Responses outside of the consultation period should be sent by email or in writing.

We can only take into account comments received directly by the Council. Comments collected or recorded elsewhere (such as those sent to the relevant District or Borough Council or hosted on other organisation’s websites) cannot be taken into account.

Officers will not normally respond directly to comments received to a planning application.

Next steps

We have a duty to make all comments received about a planning application publicly available. We will display them on the relevant application webpage with personal information removed in accordance with our Privacy Notice. We will inform you if there is a significant change which requires further consultation on the planning application before we make a decision. The Case Officer will review comments when preparing a decision.

You may not have another opportunity to comment once the public consultation period has been completed. Unless we inform you that changes to the application have taken place which may be of interest to you.

Due to national legislation and guidance, representations on planning applications will be published during the consideration of the planning application. More information on how we deal with representations can be found in our Privacy Notice. This sets out our approach to data protection, and covers processing and determining planning applications by Strategic Planning, where representations may be collected.

Officers will not normally enter into direct correspondences on responses received to a planning application.

Follow the progress

You can follow the progress of the application via the link provided in the notification letter or by the search facility. You can also contact the allocated Case Officer for an update. You don't have to submit a comment to follow the application's progress.

How a decision is made

Once the public consultation has been completed, we will gather all relevant information. A decision will be made about whether to grant or refuse planning permission.

We won't necessarily refuse applications because we receive an objection or permitted if we receive representations in support of a proposal.

The number of representations received is not relevant to the decision making process. What is relevant is the content of representations received and whether these relate to material planning considerations.

Many applications are straight forward and not contentious so can be determined by the Case Officer under delegated powers

Our Regulatory Committee

Our Regulatory Committee may determine more contentious applications. If you have submitted a comment on an application we will inform you if it is due to be determined by the Committee. We will give you more information on the committee date and how to speak at the committee if you wish to do so.

What happens after a decision is made

If you have submitted a representation on an application, we will inform you when a decision has been issued.

More information

More information on how public consultation takes place for applications processed and determined by us can be found in our adopted Statement of Community Involvement.