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Cyngor Sir Ynys Môn - Isle of Anglesey County Council

Planning decisions


Decision notices are the formal notification of our decision on an application. A decision notice outlines to the applicant whether an application has been granted or refused.

The general public register allows you to search and view planning applications and decisions. They are also available on our mapping site - MapMÔN - which provides a comprehensive range of information related to your address and its surrounding area.

Decisions on planning applications can be taken by either officers or elected councillors meeting at the Planning and Orders Committee, depending on the nature of the application. 

We provide a webcast of the latest Planning and Orders Committee proceedings.

What if I do not agree with the decision?

All applicants have a right of appeal to the Government’s Planning Inspectorate against either a refusal or the imposition of conditions. Notes on how to appeal any decision are included on the decision notice.

In the case of permissions that have been granted, the decision notice will detail any conditions, which have been imposed.

In the case where permission has been refused, the Decision Notice will set out the reasons for refusal.

Often other approvals are needed before work can start, e.g. Building Regulations. If these approvals introduce significant changes to a scheme a new planning permission may be needed. 

The case officer will assess your planning application on the basis of the policies in the development plan and any other material consideration.

A written report will be prepared on the application which will detail the planning matters taken into account before reaching a decision. The report is kept on the application file.

If the application is acceptable in principle, but perhaps needs changes in detail to bring it in line with policy, we will normally negotiate with you.

We aim to make decisions on most of the more straightforward planning applications within eight weeks. More complex applications will take longer as they often involve collecting and considering the views of government agencies and expert advisors, neighbours and possibly objectors to the development. An application involving an Environmental Impact Assessment is more complex and 16 weeks is the normal time set to decide such applications.

If the decision will take longer we will discuss a revised timetable with you. You have a right of appeal if the decision is not made in the agreed timescale but you are advised to discuss this further with your case officer.

When a decision is made on your application a legal document called a “decision notice” will be issued. It will set out the decision either to approve or refuse the application and give reasons. It may contain conditions that you need to comply with in carrying out your development.

This is a vital document that you require before starting your development.

At this point you will need to check that you have also obtained other consents - building regulations for example.

Many approvals are made subject to planning conditions. These conditions are set to make sure that the details of the development, such as the materials used, are of the type required by the Council. The conditions set will be reasonable and be necessary for the proper planning of the development. They can be altered or removed by submitting a new application.

In some cases a legal agreement will be required in addition so that matters such as highway improvements can be achieved. These are commonly called Section 106 agreements.  

You are strongly advised to carefully read the conditions, particularly if they relate to matters requiring further agreement prior to development. 

Decisions on planning applications can be taken by either officers or elected Councillors depending on the nature of the application.

If a planning appeal is involved then the decision will be made by an independent inspector.

On very rare occasions the decision will directly involve the National Assembly for Wales. This can happen if the application gives rise to very important matters of more than local significance or involves issues of national importance.

The majority of planning decisions are now made by the qualified officers of the planning service and the decisions are based on the adopted policies of the council and other material considerations. Our officers act in the public interest and abide by professional codes of conduct.

The decisions made by officers are referred to as “delegated decisions” as they are made under powers given to the officers by the full county council. These decisions do not generally involve the county Councillor directly although they are consulted upon all the applications made in their area.

Every county Councillor has the right to ask for applications within their local ward to be referred to the Planning and Orders Committee for decision and in those cases the application is not dealt with by the officer under the delegated powers.

County Councillors play an important role in the whole planning process.

The committee would normally make one of the following decisions on applications placed before them:

  • approve with or without conditions
  • refuse (with reason(s) for refusal)
  • defer for a site visit
  • defer for further negotiations
  • defer for further information

Yes, the Planning and Orders Committee have the right to make a decision which is contrary to the planning officer’s recommendation, regardless of whether that would be for approval or refusal. Any such application will be deferred by the Committee for 1 month under the terms of the Constitution so as to enable officers to report on the reasons given. No decision will be made until after the ‘Cooling Off’ period