Planning

Killinghall Parish Council is consulted by North Yorkshire Council on all planning applications. Any views expressed by the Parish Council will be taken into account by the Planning Authority before a decision is made, providing the points made are relevant to the determination of a planning application.

It is important to understand that any final decision is made by the Planning Authority, not by the Parish Council.

Ordinary members of public may view and comment on planning applications using North Yorkshire Council’s planning portal.

What can Killinghall Parish do?

Town and parish councils are not Planning Authorities. They are only statutory consultees in the planning process. This means that they:

• only have the right to be informed of planning applications within the parish
• cannot approve or reject planning applications
• can only comment on planning applications in the same way that individuals can comment

Killinghall Parish Council can only comment on what are known as “material considerations”. Issues that cannot be considered include, for example, boundary disputes between neighbours and loss of views.

Timescales

The length of time taken to determine a planning application is governed by the local planning authority, not by a parish council. A parish council can request that it be given extra time to comment on an application. The decision whether an application is granted rests solely with the planning authority and its own deadlines for decision-making.

Killinghall Parish Council meetings

Parish councils can only agree to comment on planning applications in a council meeting or a committee meeting. These have to be properly called, and the public must be able to attend. The comments agreed in these meetings are submitted in writing by the parish clerk to the relevant planning authority. The process is exactly the same as that of an individual wishing to comment on a planning application.