Any issues or concerns you raise must only involve planning matters, such as:

• the impact of the development on the character and appearance of an area (for example position, size, grouping, height or design) 
• the impact on residential amenity (for example hours of use, overlooking, over dominance, noise, traffic) 
• the impact on highway safety (for example poor visibility, pedestrian safety, parking) 
• the planning policies and proposals written in the Wrexham Unitary Development Plan (‘UDP’) which identifies where development can take place 
• government planning advice (for example Technical Advice Notes) and previous appeal decisions

We (the council) cannot refuse planning permission simply because people object to an application, or approve it because there is a lot of support/no objections.  Our decision will be made in line with the Local Development Plan. 

Little or no weight can be given to comments that refer to non-planning matters or purely private interests such as: 

• the personal characteristics of the applicant 
• disputes over the ownership of the land, private rights of way, private drains and other private easements or legal covenants 
• the effect of the proposal on property values or competition between rival companies, shops, restaurants etc. 
• structural stability, drainage, fire precautions, hygiene and internal space - these are dealt with under other legislation such as the building regulations 

Comments of a racist nature will not be considered and may be referred to the police for investigation.

We will let you know when we receive your comments and pass them to the Planning Officer dealing with the application. 
The officer will visit the application site to see what impact the proposal will have on the local area. 

The officer may negotiate changes to improve the proposal with the developer. If these are important, we will notify any neighbours again and invite them to view the plans and make further comments. The original comments will still be considered, but in the light of the changes made. 

The officer will prepare a report taking into account the views made by consultees (such as the Highway Authority or local community council) and comments made by the applicant and neighbours. This report will usually be prepared between four to eight weeks from the date that the application was submitted and the neighbours were first notified. 

The Head of Environment and Planning will consider the application together with any comments made and the officer’s recommendation. A decision will be made to approve or refuse the application, or a report is submitted for consideration by the Planning Committee. 

An application is only normally referred to Committee when someone has contacted us during the three week publicity period with opposing views to the officers’ recommendation. You may contact the planning service towards the end of this three week period to see if the application is going to the Committee for a decision.

If the application is referred to the Planning Committee for a decision to be made, an agenda will be publicised, and those who have asked to speak will be notified. The Committee will meet to discuss the application and will normally make a decision at that meeting (occasionally it is deferred to a later meeting or for a site inspection instead).

Where the decision is to refuse planning permission the applicant can appeal to the Welsh Government (usually within 6 months). If you previously contacted us about the application with comments you will be notified of such an appeal. 

You cannot speak at the Committee as of right. The invitation to speak is at the discretion of the Chair of the Planning Committee. 

The Planning Committee meeting is held at the Guildhall, Wrexham, LL11 1AY (LL13 8BG for Sat Nav) and usually starts at 4pm on a Monday every 4 weeks. 

You may only speak if the planning application is on the Planning Committee agenda and subject to the points set out below: 

• You must have notified our planning service of your request to speak either by email, telephone or in writing. You must do this as soon as possible, but by 4.30pm on the Friday before the date of the Committee meeting at the latest. You will need to leave an email address or daytime telephone number so that we can contact you. 
• Only one spokesperson can speak for or against each application. The Chair of the Committee may allow a second speaker in exceptional cases where a major application generates different views within one ‘side’ of the argument (for example a superstore application where one spokesperson represents residents and another local retailers, but both are opposed to the scheme). 

Public speaking is not permitted at: 

• Committee meetings if the application has been discussed at a previous meeting, but deferred. 
• Committee site inspections, unless asked by the Chair to clarify factual matters. 
• Committee meetings convened to decide applications following site inspections.

If several people wish to speak, they must get together to agree who will be the spokesperson and let us know. It is a condition of this scheme that you will allow us to give your contact details to others (of the same view) who request to speak, to help you to nominate a spokesperson.

If there is no agreement, only the person who notified us first will be allowed to speak. 

We will inform (by email, telephone or letter) those who request to speak of the date of the Committee meeting where the application will be considered, no sooner than 3 working days before the meeting. If you have not provided an email address or telephone number, this may occur as late as the day of the meeting. You may inspect the reports on the Committee agenda 3 working days before the meeting. 

If you are the nominated spokesperson you should introduce yourself to the Committee Officer between 3.30pm and 3.45pm.

When the application is to be considered, you will be invited by the Chair of the Committee to speak (once for up to 3 minutes). You do not need to repeat all the points submitted to us as these will already have been summarised in the Committee Report. You are advised to focus on the key points of concern to you. 

Having spoken you must leave the matter to be debated by the Committee but the Chair of the Committee may ask you questions to clarify any points.
 

Where the decision is to refuse permission the applicant can appeal to the Welsh Government (usually within 6 months). A Planning Inspector will review the case and can support the council’s decision or grant approval. Those people who contacted us about the application will be notified of such an appeal. 

Where the application is approved, the decision notice will usually contain planning conditions requiring, for example, the use of matching building materials, landscaping, parking, specific hours of use of commercial premises. 

Neighbours do not have a right of appeal against the grant of planning permission except on legal grounds and you would need to consult a solicitor for advice. 

The grant of planning permission does not override any civil or property rights you may have over the land affected, but you would need to consult a solicitor for advice. 

If the development affects or is near to yours or a neighbour’s property, the developer may need to notify you/them of any proposed works under the Party Wall Act.