Application procedure

What the Planning Officer dealing with your application will do?

The Council will inform your neighbours and Trafford Councillors by letter and, depending on the nature of your application, consult other organisations (e.g. the Highway Authority) and inform the wider community by posting site notices and press advertisements. They will have 21 or 28 days to comment.
The Planning officer will inspect the application site to evaluate the proposal.
The Planning officer may negotiate amendments to the proposal with your agent if you have one.
If amendments are needed and are significant in scale, the Council will write to your neighbours again and give them a further 10 days to view the plans and make further comments. If they don't write again, their original letter(s) will still be considered, but in the light of the amendments.
The Planning officer will prepare a report taking account of comments made by consultees, you (or your agent) and neighbours, and in consultation with senior planning officers. This report will usually be prepared 4 to 8 weeks after the Council first acknowledged your application.

The Case Officers report is considered by his/her Team Leader, who will normally make the final decision.
Planning Applications which attract objections or which are recommended for refusal or which raise significant planning policy issues are referred to a weekly meeting of the Chief Planning Officer and Team Leader for a decision.
Some Planning Applications are referred for a decision to the Planning Development Control Committee.

All Trafford Councillors are notified of applications submitted to the Council and may 'call-in' any of them for decision by the Planning Committee. They have also asked that controversial matters (where 6 or more people form different addresses write in with views contrary to the officers' recommendation) and certain major proposals be decided by the Committee as a matter of course.
If the application is referred to the Committee, an agenda will be prepared and publicised, and those who have asked to speak will be notified as described at the end of this note.
The Committee will meet at Trafford Town Hall, Stretford and discuss the application. A decision will normally be made on the night, but is occasionally deferred to a subsequent meeting.

The Council will send a Decision Notice to the person who made the application, or their agent, around 6 to 8 weeks from the date that you first submitted the application. If you have not been informed of the decision within 8 weeks contact the case-officer whose name and number are at the top of the letter that acknowledged your application.
Where the decision is to grant permission, the Notice will often include conditions requiring, for example, matching materials, landscaping, parking, specific hours of use of commercial premises.
Where the decision is to refuse permission, you can, usually within 3 months, appeal to the Government's Planning Inspectorate who will review the case and may grant approval.

If you will be extending, or altering the structure of a building you will also need Building Regulations approval and have the work inspected. If you have not yet applied for this contact Building Control now on: 0161 912 3015 or 0161 912 5870 or 0161 912 5871.
Planning Permission does not override civil/property rights and you will need the permission of anyone whose land or rights are affected, but you must consult a solicitor on this matter.
If the development affects or is near to your neighbours' house/premises/boundary, you may need to notify them under the Party Wall Act. You must consult a solicitor on this matter, but the Council has an explanatory leaflet available on request. This can be obtained from the Council offices themselves or the GOV.UK website