Objecting to an application

Make an official objection to the planning application by letter to your local council. Quote the reference number (your council's planning office reception will have this), and state your case clearly, and calmly. Point out your concerns, and why you think they need to be considered. Remember that the council officer who has to deal with the application (the Case Officer) may not know all the local details - your knowledge may be of benefit. Try not to use emotive language, nor use issues that are not considered in planning matters (e.g. house values, likelihood of crime, new neighbours etc.). However, you may wish to include planning issues that are on the limit of The Wildlife Trust's remit, such as traffic levels, noise & disturbance, incursion on Green Belt, and changes to landscape & views. Copy your letter to the Councillor(s) for the ward in which the site is located. Contact details for Councillors are usually provided on the relevant council's web site (see links under "Our local councils and their ecological advisers").

Contact your local council's Case Officer, who will deal with the application by 'phone. S/he will generally listen to your arguments and concerns. If necessary, ask to go to the council offices to look at the plans in more detail - these are often available for view at a 'One Stop Shop' or Planning Reception.

Consider appropriate measures for mitigation and/or compensation; e.g. if two trees are to be felled to make a play space available, there could be benefits in suggesting that a larger area is planted with new trees and managed for nature conservation.

Contact your council's local environment forum - if it has one - in order to try and get your message to a wider public. Encourage others to submit objections (but do not get them to sign a copied 'template' letter, as these are not generally accepted) and contact the local newspaper.

Ask to state your case to the Planning (Sub-) Committee that will decide on planning applications to which there have been objections. You will need to notify the Committee Clerk at least 24 hours before the meeting, which will usually take place on an evening.

Unitary Development Plans and Local Plans

Become familiar with your local council's development plan and its proposals, policies and maps. In Greater Manchester and Merseyside these are called Unitary Development Plans (UDP). In administrative Lancashire - including Blackburn with Darwen Borough and Blackpool Borough - they are called Local Plans. This document is an important guide to what will be allowed and is on view at the council's offices and libraries (it can also be purchased, and is often available on a council's web site - links to those are provided under Our local councils and their ecological advisers). Investigate and use in your letter, where possible, the development plan policies that will relate to nature conservation issues. For example, a proposal may conflict with a Policy that states that the council is committed to protecting its district's trees or ponds. Not all development plans are the same; but relevant policies will usually be found in the chapters for Environment, Nature Conservation, Community Open Space, and/or Recreation & Leisure. Don't forget to check the proposals (and maps), which give clear indications of which sites are protected, and which areas are designated for development.

Structure Plan and Minerals & Waste Local Plan

In the case of applications for schools, libraries, quarrying, waste disposal and major road development in Lancashire only, the County Council will make the decision rather than the local council. It also makes decisions on strategic matters. For example, it will decide which towns should expand to meet the county's overall housing needs - but the relevant District, Borough or City Council will decide precisely where these houses should go. In conjunction with the unitary authorities for Blackburn with Darwen Borough and Blackpool Borough, the County Council produces a Joint Structure Plan and a Minerals and Waste Local Plan containing their joint planning policies on these matters. A Minerals and Waste Development Framework is to replace the Minerals and Waste Local Plan in line with new planning legislation. See changes in the law for details.

Regional Planning Guidance

Policies on major strategic proposals (e.g. international airports, motorways and rail routes) may first appear in the Regional Spatial Strategy for the North West (RSS13) produced by the North West Regional Assembly (NWRA). See also changes in the law.

Offshore Developments

In the Irish Sea, applications for development offshore are currently made to the Department of Trade and Industry in the case of oil and gas extraction or wind and wave energy development; and to the Minerals & Waste Planning Division of the Department for Communities & Local Government in the case of dredging for marine sand and aggregates. The Crown Estate owns almost all of the UK's seabed and foreshore, and must licence any development on its estate. National Government is currently consulting on whether to introduce a more integrated marine spatial planning system for development at sea.

Parish Councils and Town Councils don't make decisions on planning issues, though they are consulted by the planning authorities and may make comments on planning applications affecting their area. You may wish to copy your comments to the relevant parish or town council for information, though they don't exist in most urban areas.

Protected Sites or Species: Are there any nature conservation sites or plants or animals protected by law that would be affected by the proposed development?

Internationally or nationally important sites

If the site is scheduled as a Ramsar Site, Special Protection Area (SPA), Special Area of Conservation (SAC), National Nature Reserve (NNR), Local Nature Reserve (LNR) or Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), then English Nature, the Government's statutory adviser on nature conservation in England, may become involved (see "Our local councils and their ecological advisers").

Sites of county or greater importance

If the site is scheduled as a Wildlife Site (also known by several other names in our area, including "Biological Heritage Site", "Site of Biological Importance", "Site of Importance for Nature Conservation") then the Greater Manchester Ecology Unit, the Environmental Advisory Service (North Merseyside) {no web site, but e-mail: eas@sefton.u-net.com} or Lancashire County Council may become involved (see "Our local councils and their ecological advisers" below), depending which county the proposal is in. Such sites are likely to be protected in local or unitary development plan policies (see "Unitary Development Plans and Local Plans") or the new Local Development Frameworks (see "Changes in the law").

Specially protected species

Specially protected species Plant and animal species given special legal protection by Great Britain's Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981, and Annex II of the European Union's Habitats & Species Directive 1992 usually have special significance in the planning process. Protection for species under the European Union's Directive was translated into English law by the Conservation (Habitats &c) Regulations 1994. You should be able to find them listed on the species section of the website of the UK's Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC). Badgers and their setts are also protected by their own legislation - the Protection of Badgers Act 1992.