Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment has been made of the adequacy of existing planning regulations for considering the views of local residents.

Planning regulations require local planning authorities to publish all planning applications for a minimum of 21 days to allow communities to provide their comments. Where relevant planning considerations are raised by local residents within this period these must be taken into account by the local planning authority. The weight attached to a particular consideration is a matter of judgement for the local authority as the decision-maker in the first instance.

The government considers that the existing statutory publicity and consultation requirements for planning applications strikes an appropriate balance between ensuring sufficient consultation with communities and an efficient determination period for the applicant.