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Out-Law News 1 min. read

Kensington and Chelsea Council to publish pre-application advice


Kensington and Chelsea Council has announced that from March 2016 it will routinely publish any pre-application advice once a planning application has been made. 

The Council offers an advice service to potential applicants who are considering making a planning application. This currently allows developers to obtain initial advice regarding any development proposal. This pre-application advice is currently confidential and is only published if someone makes a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or Environmental Information Regulations once the related planning application is submitted.

From March onwards, any pre-application advice will automatically be published once the relevant planning application has been made. This includes any advice given by the planning officers or the architectural appraisal panel. This removes the need for any freedom of information requests. The Council believes it is the first council in the country to do this.

Councillor Tim Coleridge, the borough’s cabinet member for planning policy, said: "The Royal Borough is already streets ahead of many other councils in the way it publishes planning application information on its website and this is another step in our commitment to being transparent."

"Everyone will be able to see the advice our officers have provided, how they have fought to get improvements to development proposals and how they have encouraged applicants to engage with those who might be affected," said Coleridge.

Planning expert Victoria Lindsay of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com said:

"This will no doubt be seen as a win for local residents who often complain that planning decisions are subject to a cloud of secrecy. Last year, the Council received 30 FOI requests for information on pre-application planning advice provided by its officers so the Council will be looking to obviate such future requests from March 2016."

"Developers will not be so happy with the decision as it will mean that pre-application advice, that could previously have been withheld from the public domain on commercial sensitivity grounds, will now be made public for anyone to review on the Council's planning register", said Lindsay.

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