Adopted 2nd April 2024 · Reviewed 18th May 2026, PL11/26

Context

The Government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) makes it clear that it is appropriate for someone who is proposing development to engage with the Parish Council as a statutory consultee in the planning process before a full planning application is submitted to Cornwall Council. This is in addition to consultation with neighbours and members of the public, which also forms an important part of the planning process.

St Agnes Parish Council encourages pre-application engagement from members of the public, developers and agents and welcomes an exchange of information before a planning application is submitted. This discussion and the subsequent feedback gained can be beneficial to the prospective applicant, local residents and the Cornwall Council Planning Officer who will ultimately manage the full application.

Requesting a Pre-Application Discussion

A request for pre-application engagement with the Parish Council must:

  • Be made in writing by either letter or email to the Parish Clerk/Deputy Clerk; and
  • Give the site location and as detailed an account of the proposal to be discussed as possible; and
  • Give an indication of the current status or schedule for the submission of the full application; and
  • Explain who will be in attendance on behalf of the prospective applicant.

Upon receipt of this information (which is preferred in electronic form and at least seven days in advance of a meeting), the Parish Clerk/Deputy Clerk will invite the requester to attend the next convenient meeting of the Parish Council’s Planning Committee. That meeting will be held in public and subject to its standard procedures and Standing Orders. Other members of the public may be present to observe proceedings, but they will not be allowed to participate beyond the usual arrangements for public participation. As permitted in law, meetings may be recorded and members of the press may attend.

Meeting Process

The speaker will have the opportunity to give a short presentation of their proposals, under a standalone agenda item. This should not exceed ten minutes in length, although the Chair of the meeting may exercise discretion depending upon the complexity of the proposal. The material presented should all be considered in the public domain and anything regarded as sensitive or confidential should not be included.

Members of the Planning Committee may then ask questions of the speaker and give feedback on the proposals. This will relate to points of local concern and any material planning and land use aspects of the proposals, applying planning policies as contained in the St Agnes Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) and the Cornwall Local Plan.

The Planning Committee will endeavour to be constructive and consistent in its engagement with a proposal. It must be clearly understood that any comments or observations provided will represent interim and provisional feedback. They do not indicate that the Planning Committee has reached or settled upon a final position on how it views the proposal and are without prejudice to any formal Parish Council response to
Cornwall Council.

Parish Council Feedback

The Planning Committee meeting agenda item will be minuted to the same extent as any other part of the meeting agenda. The Planning Committee (on behalf of the Parish Council) will not provide a formal, written response setting out its views following the meeting, or prior to its consultee submissions to Cornwall Council. The meeting minutes solely will formulate the Parish Council’s standpoint at the time of providing the pre-application feedback.

Contact with Members of the Parish Council

Whilst individual Councillors are entitled to make reasonable enquiries and seek information about a future development proposal to assist them in representing their community, it is requested that members of the public do not engage in direct communications with an individual Councillor with a view to influencing their position. Any such communications should be sent to the Parish Council as a body and only via the Clerk/Deputy Clerk.

Members of the Parish Council have been trained in the distinction between ‘predisposition’ and ‘predetermination’.