The Planning Committee

What is the Planning Committee?

The Planning Committee is made up of ten councillors all of whom have undertaken suitable training.The committee normally meet every two weeks on a Thursday at 6pm at Colchester Town Hall.

Agendas for upcoming meetings are posted one week before the scheduled meeting.

How are applications referred to the Planning Committee?

We use our 'scheme of delegation'(PDF, 378KB) to determine the types of planning applications which are put forward to the Planning Committee or to officers.

Some large-scale applications will automatically be sent to the committee because they tend to cause objections, raise complex issues or result in a need for planning contributions to be secured through a legal agreement.

For other types of applications, including householder extensions, we can request that an application is put forward to the Planning Committee if there are issues raised by the proposals in the application (the impact these proposals may have on the surrounding area for example) that merit special consideration.

Some areas of planning are a more subjective judgement where opinions will vary from person to person. These areas are where a democratic vote by the committee may be more desirable.

Speaking at the Planning Committee

We operate a system of public speaking which applies to all applications being considered by the committee.

Find out more information on how to have your say