Cornwall Council (CC) is the Planning Authority and makes the decision regarding whether a planning application is approved or refused, the Parish Council (PC) is a ‘consultee’ and can make comments on applications and ask for an application to go to CC’s planning committee under certain circumstances. Anyone has the right to make a planning application. CC notifies the PC of an application in its Parish and the PC usually has 21 days to comment. CC also has a duty to inform the community.
You can view Cornwall Council Planning Register via the following link planning.cornwall.gov.uk/online-applications
Presumption in favour of sustainable development
Government’s new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) came into force on 12th December 2024. This sets out revised guidance and policies for planning across England.
Government published a standard housing method alongside the NPPF. This is the method that CC must use to understand how many new homes should be built each year in Cornwall. CC must now plan for 4,421 homes in Cornwall instead of the 2,707 that they have been planning for under the current Local Plan (CLP).
Where a plan is more than 5 years old, CC must be able to show that the plan can meet the new housing requirement of 4,421 homes per year for it to remain ‘up to date’.
CC have concluded that this is not currently possible and on that basis some of their policies in the CLP will be considered ‘out of date’ for decision making. However, where their policies remain consistent with the NPPF they can continue to be used for decision making. This is true of the majority of their policies across the Local Plan and Neighbourhood Plans.
CC has now published an Interim Policy Position Statement for consultation. This sets out how they will continue to use the Local Plan to make planning decisions.
As the Gwinear-Gwithian Neighbourhood Plan (NP) is over 5 years old and was put together in accordance with the old CLP some of our policies around development are also ‘out of date’. We are therefore starting a new process which will help influence the new CLP and lead to us producing a new NP. This process will create a Neighbourhood Priorities Statement for our Parish and you can find out more information about it by clicking on the following link:
Please click on the following links to see the Gwinear-Gwithian Neighbourhood Plan:-
https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/media/4t2b2qdf/gwinear-gwithian-neighbourhood-development-plan.pdf
The Planning Process
The PC usually puts the planning application on the public agenda of its next meeting. This agenda will be made public 3 clear days prior to the meeting (so on the evening of the Wednesday prior to the meeting date). The agenda is advertised on the PC website, facebook and twitter pages (details of our pages are below). The PC puts the agenda up in the Gwinear-Gwithian Parish Hall at Copper Meadows, Gwinear, Reawla and may also put it up in notice boards in Gwithian, Gwinear, Connor Downs, Reawla and Carnhell Green villages on the Wednesday before the meeting. The PC is not obliged by law to contact neighbouring properties of planning applications.
The PC holds around 22 public meetings every year almost all of these being on a Monday evening starting at 7pm on the second and fourth Monday of each month (other than August & December or due to bank holidays when it is only the second Monday in the month).
The PC makes every effort to hold public meetings around the Parish at different locations for parishioners to attend. These venues include Reawla, Gwithian and Connor Downs. Our meetings are open to the public and we hold a period of public participation at the start of every meeting to allow the community to comment on applications.
The Parish Council has split the Parish of Gwinear-Gwithian in to four areas for planning purposes and Councillors play a vital role in their own Planning Zone. As well as making sure they are fully aware of the plans themselves, our Councillors will if needed, visit the site and speak with the applicant and other local residents regarding the application to ensure the Parish Council is fully aware of parishioner’s views. The Planning Zone Councillors will then report this information at the meeting where the application is to be discussed by the Parish Council.
The best way to ensure you are notified of planning applications near you is to register with the planning authority CC to receive emails when an application comes up in your area.
The Parish Council has put together this step by step guide on how to register with CC to receive emails regarding new planning applications – How to register with Cornwall Council to receive notification of planning applications in your area
You can also find more advice on planning matters via the CC website at https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/environment-and-planning/planning/planning-advice-and-guidance/how-to-respond-to-planning-applications/
Anyone needing information on pre-applications or enforcements can contact Cornwall Council planning department or the Parish Council, the Parish Council are not generally consulted on these but they may be able to help.
To view the Parish Council Planning Policy please click on the link : PLANNING POLICY – Feb 2021
The Parish Council also adopted the pre-application protocol on 28th November 2016. This protocol has been put together in partnership with Cornwall Association of Local Councils (CALC) and Cornwall Council. You can follow the links below to view the protocol for our parish:-
planning pre-app-protocol-agreement-v2
planning local-council-pre-application-protocol-v2
Planning – Local Council Pre App Protocol – Registration and Profile v2 – ggp