This privacy statement explains how we use any personal information we collect about you when you submit anything to Development Control.
Burnley Borough Council’s general privacy policy is available here.
What information do we collect about you?
When determining a planning or related application, Burnley Borough Council receives a variety of personal information from a number of sources, including the application form and any documents of support or objection, the applicant and interested parties.
The types of personal information supplied can include:
- contact information – your name, address, email address, telephone or mobile numbers;
- your occupation;
- sometimes sensitive information about your health;
- information relating to expressed opinions or intentions in respect of a planning application.
Publication and access to information
In order to comply with its statutory obligations, the Council must make public certain details relating to planning applications in the form of a public register. Regulations allow this information to be made available on the Internet.
The Council is also under a statutory obligation to publish on its website a list of planning applications. This includes the name and address of the applicant and, where an agent is acting for the applicant, the name and address of that agent.
Information for applicants and agents
Burnley Borough Council along with the Planning Portal is encouraging applicants to use the online facilities available for making Planning Applications.
We encourage you to think before including any confidential or sensitive information with planning applications. Whilst every effort is made to prevent disclosure of this information, it is increasingly difficult if it’s hidden in lengthy documents.
The Council will publish on its website a copy of your completed application form and relevant supporting documents and drawings. This will include your name and address and, where an agent is acting for you, the name and address of that agent. In order to protect your personal data from any unnecessary disclosure, the Council will remove your telephone number, mobile number, email address and signature from the information that may be viewed via the website. However we may use these contact details to progress the planning service provided.
Any sensitive personal data, such as information about your health, will also be removed before publication.
Withholding of sensitive or confidential information from publication
If you wish to provide information in support of the application which you regard as sensitive or confidential, and which you do not wish to be published as set out above, this must be submitted as a separate document and clearly marked as such. Such information should not be embedded within larger documents where it will be more difficult to identify.
You should include with any such separate document an explanation as to why you do not wish the document to be published. The council will consider the request and may need to contact you further regarding the request.
Please Note: No physical signature is now required if submitting a planning application online.
Information for consultees and objectors
Burnley Borough Council are encouraging members of the Public to use the online facilities available for commenting on planning applications.
The Council may publish your comments on its website and this will include your address. In order to protect your personal data from any unnecessary disclosure, the Council will remove your name, telephone number, mobile number, email address and signature from the information that may be viewed via the website.
The Council will not publish defamatory or obscene comments.
Please Note: No physical signature is now required if making comments on a planning application on-line. Additionally telephone numbers, email addresses or signatures are not required when you are commenting on a planning application.
If an appeal against the application is submitted to the Planning Inspectorate, they will also be sent original copies of your comments.
Websites which are accessible through links to “related sites” from this one are not covered by this privacy statement, so when you link to other websites you should read their own privacy policies.
Data protection
The Council will process your personal data in accordance with the Data Protection legislation and will:
- Only use the information for the purposes of dealing with and considering the application;
- Only publish the information for as long as reasonably necessary. For completed applications this is usually for a period of 6 weeks after the last date on which an appeal may be lodged. The time period for lodging an appeal is up to 6 months in some cases however this is different with each type of application.
- We will ensure that we only keep personal data as required to maintain statutory registers and meet compliance with other legislation.
- Planning registers are open to public inspection and full details may be provided to planning inspectors.
Your responsibilities:
- Only provide personal information if you are happy for it to be placed in the public domain, including publication on the internet.
- Do not include personal information about another person (including family members) unless the individual concerned has consented and you can provide evidence of this consent.
- Tell us as soon as possible if any of the personal information you have provided should change.
Access to your personal data
For any enquiry or concern about this privacy policy, the Council’s general privacy policy, or to request access to your personal data, contact our Data Protection Officer:
dataprotection@burnley.gov.uk
or telephone: 01282 425011 and ask for the Data Protection Officer.
Complaints about how we process your personal data
You may also want to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office