Speaking at Planning Committee

Cairngorms Plan­ning Advice Note

Speak­ing at Plan­ning Committee

Updated: Septem­ber 2022

Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Meet­ings The Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity (CNPA) Plan­ning Com­mit­tee meets every four weeks to decide plan­ning applic­a­tions that have been ​‘called-in’ or to con­sider oth­er plan­ning matters.

Plan­ning Com­mit­tee meet­ings are cur­rently being held online, with the details of how to watch the meet­ing shown on the CNPA’s web­site. If you ask to speak at the Plan­ning Com­mit­tee meet­ing you will be sent details of how to join the meet­ing as a par­ti­cipant. The diary of meet­ings is avail­able on the CNPA web­site here.

Plan­ning Com­mit­tee meet­ings are run by the Con­vener of the Plan­ning Com­mit­tee. The Stand­ing Orders of the Plan­ning Com­mit­tee set out the rules that it works to.

Speak­ing on Plan­ning Applic­a­tions The oppor­tun­ity to speak at a Plan­ning Com­mit­tee is at the Plan­ning Committee’s dis­cre­tion. There are four ways that mem­bers of the pub­lic can speak about a plan­ning applic­a­tion at a Plan­ning Com­mit­tee meeting:

1. As the applic­ant or agent for a plan­ning applic­a­tion – you can speak for up to 10 minutes, shared with any sup­port­ers who ask to speak, or you may be asked a ques­tion by the Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Convener;
2. As a sup­port­er of a plan­ning applic­a­tion – you can speak for up to 10 minutes, shared with the applic­ant or agent and any oth­er sup­port­ers who ask to speak;
3. As an object­or to a plan­ning applic­a­tion – you can speak for up to 10 minutes shared with any oth­er object­ors who ask to speak;
4. As a Com­munity Coun­cil – you can speak for up to 10 minutes shared with any oth­er Com­munity Councils.

You must register to speak at the plan­ning com­mit­tee no later than 7 cal­en­dar days pri­or to the meet­ing where the plan­ning applic­a­tion is due to be determined

How do I find out when and where the Plan­ning Com­mit­tee will be? If you have registered to speak about a plan­ning applic­a­tion, the CNPA will email you two weeks before the meet­ing where the applic­a­tion is likely to be con­sidered. We will then noti­fy you one week before the Plan­ning Com­mit­tee to con­firm that the applic­a­tion will be con­sidered and the Plan­ning Com­mit­tee papers are published.

What can I speak about? Your present­a­tion should focus on the facts of the case and the impacts of the pro­posed devel­op­ment from your view­point. The Plan­ning Com­mit­tee mem­bers can take account of rel­ev­ant plan­ning issues such as:

• Extern­al design, appear­ance and layout
• Road safety
• Loss of amenity
• Impacts on nat­ur­al or cul­tur­al heritage
• Oth­er mat­ters con­trary to plan­ning policy.

The Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Mem­bers can­not take account of issues such as:

• Private prop­erty rights
• Effects upon prop­erty values
• Com­mer­cial competition
• Mat­ters covered by oth­er legislation
• The applicant’s mor­als or motives
• Pos­sible future proposals

How to get the most from your speak­ing oppor­tun­ity If you share your 10 minute slot with oth­er speak­ers, it’s your respons­ib­il­ity to agree who speaks for how long. You should nom­in­ate a spokes­per­son or at most two spokespeople to rep­res­ent you all and avoid repe­ti­tion. If you don’t agree between yourselves, the Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Con­vener will divide the time amongst you, or you may not be allowed to speak.

What hap­pens at the meet­ing? Plan­ning Com­mit­tee meet­ings are cur­rently being held online, with the details of how to watch the meet­ing shown on the CNPA’s web­site. If have reques­ted to speak at the Plan­ning Com­mit­tee meet­ing you will be sent details of how to join the meet­ing as a participant.

The Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Con­ven­or will start the meet­ing promptly and run through the agenda items. When the meet­ing reaches the applic­a­tion that you have asked to speak about, the Con­vener will explain that that you and any oth­er parties want to speak. The Con­vener will than ask the CNPA plan­ning officer to present the applic­a­tion and answer any points of cla­ri­fic­a­tion from Members.

After that, the Con­vener will ask speak­ers, one at a time, to address the Plan­ning Com­mit­tee. The Con­vener will ask you to switch on your micro­phone, explain how long you have to speak, and tell you when you can start speak­ing. The Con­vener will also tell when you must stop speaking.

When you have fin­ished speak­ing, or been asked to stop, the Con­ven­or will invite Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Mem­bers to ask you ques­tions. You will then be asked to mute your micro­phone and the next speak­er invited to the table. The order of speak­ing always starts with applicant/​agent fol­lowed by sup­port­ers, object­ors and com­munity councils.

Elec­tron­ic present­a­tions You can ask to present inform­a­tion digit­ally at the Plan­ning Com­mit­tee meet­ing to help you make your points. If you want to, you must send your elec­tron­ic present­a­tion, either as a PDF or Power­Point, to the CNPA plan­ning sup­port team (tel. 01479 870517 or email planning@​cairngorms.​co.​uk) by 12 noon on the Tues­day before the Plan­ning Com­mit­tee meeting.

What hap­pens if I miss the meet­ing? If you are unable to attend the Plan­ning Com­mit­tee meet­ing, you request a rep­res­ent­at­ive to act in your place, but if nobody is present to speak for you at the meet­ing, you will have missed your oppor­tun­ity to address the Plan­ning Committee.

What hap­pens if the applic­a­tion is deferred by the Com­mit­tee? There is only one oppor­tun­ity to speak at the Plan­ning Com­mit­tee meet­ing. If the Plan­ning Com­mit­tee defers con­sid­er­ing an applic­a­tion, then you will be invited to the next meet­ing where it will be con­sidered. If the Plan­ning Com­mit­tee defers a decision hav­ing con­sidered the applic­a­tion and the con­tri­bu­tions of speak­ers dur­ing one meet­ing, for example to allow for a site vis­it, there is no fur­ther oppor­tun­ity to speak to the Plan­ning Com­mit­tee when they meet again to make their decisions.

More Inform­a­tion For more inform­a­tion, con­tact the CNΡΑ plan­ning team on tel. 01479 870517 or email planning@​cairngorms.​co.​uk.

CAIRNGORMS NATION­AL PARK AUTHOR­ITY 14 The Square, Grant­own on Spey, PH26 3HG. t: 01479873535 f: 01479873527 e: planning@​cairngorms.​co.​uk w: cairngorms​.co​.uk