Planning Committee Members and Code of Conduct

The following is a summary of the coucil's 'Planning Code of Practice'

Where a developer is giving consideration to a development or property purchase or when a planning application has been submitted, contact with Councillors is generally discouraged unless it follows the guidance in the Council’s Codes of Practice.

Contact between architects / agents / developers etc., and Councillors is to be conducted within clear guidelines. In the event of contact Councillors will agree to listen, but the developer should only seek information on procedural matters and on the content of Council policy. The Councillor may suggest that the developer should speak to an Officer or the Councillor will pass on their views to an Officer, so that they are taken into account.

No commitment should be sought from the Councillor because he/she is only in a position to make a decision when all up-to-date information and evidence is presented to Committee. Councillors cannot declare support or voting intentions or commit themselves one way or the other in advance of listening to all the arguments and evidence at the Committee meeting; to do so makes them vulnerable to an accusation of partiality.

When an application has been submitted, social contacts between Councillors and developers should be minimised and no hospitality should be offered.

Councillors should not meet applicants alone. Meetings between Councillors and developers which discuss the likelihood of obtaining planning permission should be attended by a Planning Officer. Meetings between Council Officers and a developer regarding proposed development, are held in strictest confidence unless otherwise agreed jointly by both the Council and the developer. Presentations of draft proposals can be made to the Committee by arrangement with the Head of Planning.

It is normal practice for Councillors to make individual and unaccompanied site visits prior to a decision of an application, whilst explanation/clarification of any matter on the site itself, can be the subject of a site visit of the whole Committee. The applicant is informed of any Committee site visit.

Representations from third party objectors or supporters of an application received after the expiry date of the various statutory consultation periods and immediately prior to a Committee may not be able to be taken into account. The inclusion of any such late representations will be at the discretion of the Head of Regeneration and Planning Services.

Applicants, developers or objectors/supporters should not send printed information to Members of the Committee unless it is also sent to the Case Officer. The reason for this is that (a) substitute Members may attend the meeting at short notice and may not have the information available to them and (b) the information is not in the public arena if restricted to Members and therefore cannot be taken into account.

The Planning and Development Committee meets at Scarborough Town Hall every three weeks. The exact dates of the meeting are available by clicking on the following link

Planning and Development Committee

The membership of the Committee can change as a result of resignation or elections. Where a Committee Member is absent a substitute may replace her/him.