Wylam Parish Council is invited by the planning authority (Northumberland County Council) to comment on all planning applications that have an impact on the village. Comments are passed to the planning authority and are considered in exactly the same way as are comments by local residents. Wylam Parish Council must restrict its comments to material planning considerations and has no additional power to influence planning decisions.

Wylam Parish Council focuses its comments on material planning considerations related to the village as a whole; these include the following: · Adequacy of parking/loading/turning · Highway safety · Traffic generation · Visual amenity · Noise and disturbance resulting from use · Hazardous materials · Smells · Loss of trees · Effect on Listed Building and Conservation Areas · Design, appearance and materials · Road access · Local strategic, regional and planning policies · Nature conservation

Wylam Parish Council will not comment on issues concerning overlooking/loss of privacy or loss of light or overshadowing. These and other issues relating to the immediate vicinity are more properly dealt with by the residents directly affected. Wylam Parish Council will however bring to the attention of neighbouring properties where it is felt that an issue of this type may be of concern.   

As a public authority Wylam Parish Council is required to conduct its business openly and fairly. For this reason our arrangements for commenting on planning applications are open to public scrutiny and this document sets out how the process is conducted. 

The process 

A copy of the planning application is circulated to the Parish Councillors who sit on the Planning Advisory Group for them to make their individual comments.

Residents who wish to make their observations or comments known to Councillors may do so through the Clerk to Wylam Parish Council.

The Chairman (or Vice-Chairman) of the Parish Council and the Clerk will jointly interpret the Councillors' comments and this interpretation will form the basis for the Council’s formal response to Northumberland County Council. This response may be viewed on Northumberland County Council's website here.

Further information:

Clerk to the Parish Council -  click to contact.

Northumberland County Council Planning Applications: http://www.northumberland.gov.uk/Planning/Planning-applications/Search.aspx

The Parish Council has a Planning Advisory Group (PAG). The terms of reference for the PAG can be found here.