Re: Re: Pre-planning discussions

@kite wrote:

Under Section 247 of the P&D Act all LA’s are legally obliged to keep a copy of pre-planning discussions and these must be made available to the public. Any deviation from this could lead to an invalid application.
Hope this info is of some use?

There is no obligation on the applicant to engage in preapplication discussions with the planning authority.

The applicant may ask for advice on policy and procedure and that advice may not be unreasonably withheld by the planning authority [Subsection 247 (1)].

The planning authority may choose when and where the consultations take place [Subsection 247 (4)].

If such discussions take place there is an obligation on the planning authority to keep a record of the discussions as part of the planning file [Subsection 247 (5)]. Needless to say this is an obligation which is more honoured in the breach than in the observance.

If the application goes to appeal you may ask the Board to require the planning authority to produce the minutes of the meetings. However there appears to be no sanction on the planning authority if they fail to do so.

In my opinion the application could not be considered to be invalid due to a failure on the part of the planning authority to record the preapplication discussions.