Development Control Charter

What is Development Control?

When there are proposals for building and development work it's up to Development Control to balance the need for change with looking after our local environment.

Development Control is governed by complex laws but our staff will help to make things easier to understand.

Our priority is to give our customers a top-quality friendly, efficient service. This charter contains details of that service and the standards we will guarantee.

Our job

It's our job to :-

control the development and use of land
make a decision about planning applications
check developments as they are built
give information and advice on development issues
enforce planning law if it is ignored

Guidelines for development in Gosport are set out in our Local Plan.

To make the best decisions we must consider everyone's needs. This can take time to do properly, but it will help us to make the right decision for the right reasons.

Our staff

We treat all our customers the same. When you talk to us you will find us friendly, courteous and helpful.

High standards

We guarantee the following levels of service.

Customer Care

a Development Control Officer will be on hand during working hours to advise customers before they submit plans
we will respect confidentiality
we aim to respond to your letter within 10 working days
if telephone queries can't be answered on the spot we will get back to customers within 1 working day
copies of our planning policies and other documents will always be available for customers to look at or buy

Submitting a planning application

we will help customers fill in planning application forms
for a small charge, we can let private individuals have ordnance survey site plans
every valid planning application will be registered and acknowledged within 3 working days. We'll let customers know who is dealing with their plans and a date when they can expect a decision.
if applications are incomplete we will be in touch within 5 working days to let the customer know what to do
we will write to customers if we need more details about their plans
if asked. we will keep customers up-to-date about how their application is going

Publicity

we will advertise all planning application we receive
we will make sure people know how and when to comment about plans
all comments will be looked at before we make any decisions
information about planning applications will be made available to the public. People who make comments on plans will be told about the Council's decision

Decisions, decisions

the planning and Building Control Services Manager can make a decision about most applications, but major proposals have to got to the Council's Planning Committee for a decision to be made.
once a decision has been made. we'll let the customer know what's happening within 3 working days
we will make sure that any conditions attached to the planning approval are clear and easily understood
if a legal agreement is needed before a decision can be made, we will make sure the customer knows as soon as possible
if an application is refused, we will let customers know if any changes could be made to overcome objections
we will always explain the customer's right of appeal against any decision we make

What happens next?

sometimes conditions are attached to the planning consent. When this happens and further details need to be submitted, we will consider them and issue an appropriate decision
if any changes are made to the approved plans we will deal with any amendments as quickly as possible

The law

if we're told that planning laws have been broken we will visit the site to investigate
if we find there are problems. we will give advice on how to put things right, agree a timetable for the changes and explain what will happen if they aren't done
we will treat all breaches of planning law and acknowledge them in confidence
every report will be thoroughly investigated and we will write to customers to let them know the outcome

Any complaints?

complaints about the Development Control Service will be investigated promptly
we will advise customers in writing of what we are doing to put things right and let them know how to take their complaint further if they're still not happy

Our performance

we will publish a quarterly review of our performance against targets set by the Government plus an annual review of our own targets for dealing with planning applications
if we fail to meet our own targets we'll find out why and make sure we get back on the right track
we will constantly monitor our customers needs and if necessary change the way we work to meet their demands

How did we do?

We hope you have found this information useful. If you have any comments about the leaflet or the service we provide, please write to:

Pat Aird
Head of Development Control
Gosport Borough Council
High Street
Gosport
P012 1EB

or telephone:

(023) 9254 5328