View or comment on a planning application
The Statement of Community Involvement 2016 Chapter 3 sets out the City of London Corporation’s procedures for consulting the public on planning applications. You can comment on an application either by supporting or objecting to it.
Comment on a planning application
The quickest way to comment on a planning application is to submit your comments online at Public Access
You can view an application by:
Search for the application, open it and choose the Comments tab. Your comments will be published.
If you are unable to provide comments online, you can email us at Planning Comments
We prefer to receive comments either online or via email because they are the quickest and easiest way to for us to deal with them but if these options are not available to you, you can write to us at:
Environment Department
City of London
PO Box 270
Guildhall
London EC2P 2EJ
You may inspect copies of the application, the plans and any other documents submitted with it, online at Public Access. If you are unable to view the plans online or you require paper documents email the Planning Team or telephone 020 7332 1710.
The documents are available for inspection by appointment at the Guildhall by contacting the Planning Team
Email or write
Add the planning application reference at the top of your email or letter and state whether you are supporting or objecting to it. You must include your name and address.
Note
All comments must be available for public inspection (Local Government Access to Information Act 1985). They are published on the website and are available for inspection, on request, at the Built Environment Enquiry Desk. They are included in an appendix in the Committee Report to the Planning and Transport Committee.
The Planning Officer cannot take into account comments that do not include a name and address when considering an application nor can the comments be reported. For the purposes of data protection, we do not reveal the email address, telephone number or signature of private individuals. See the General Data Protection Regulations 2018 privacy notice.
You can ask for your name and address to be removed, from the planning report but your comments will be anonymous and that may affect the weight the Members give them.
Comments are not confidential so you should not include information that you do not want to be publicly available. If remarks are defamatory they will be removed before the rest of your comments are published.
Need help?
If you need help making a comment, contact the Planning Team or call 020 7332 1710.
Find a planning decision or track an application’s progress
Using the online process, you can track an application’s progress, save your searches and receive email notifications about tracked applications. There is no need to register to leave a comment but by registering you will be able to use the features described.
You can use Public Access for information on planning decisions.
The comment deadline is 21 days from the date that the Public Notice is put up on the site or the application is made public, although we endeavour to take into account any comment that is submitted before a decision is made on the application.
The only comments that can be taken into account relate to planning:
Policy and use
- Planning policies and Government planning advice
- Community facilities or public infrastructure
Amenity
- Overlooking
- Loss of daylight or sunlight
- Overshadowing
- Noise and disturbance
- Light pollution
- Hours of use
Character and appearance
- Design
- Appearance
- Materials to be used
- Layout, density, design of the external appearance
- Impact on the historic environment, listed buildings or conservation areas
Highway safety
- Traffic implications and means of access
- Poor visibility
- Pedestrian safety
- Parking
The following topics cannot be taken into account because they are non-planning matters:
- The effect on property values
- Loss of private views
- Private rights of way and other private easements and legal covenants
- Disputes over land ownership and boundaries
- Commercial competition
- Building regulation issues (e.g. structural stability, drainage, fire precautions, hygiene and internal space)
- Moral or religious objections
The comments are part of the background papers to the application report and are available to the Planning Subcommittee before the application is determined.
If the application has fewer than ten objections the application is considered by the Planning and Development Director under powers delegated to that post by the Planning and Transportation Committee. Over 90% of planning applications are determined this way.
The committee report is published five clear days before the Committee date and is available via Councillors, committees and meetings together with any presentation that will be used by the Planning Officer to illustrate the application at the Committee. It is available in an alternative format by telephoning 020 76060 3030 and asking for the Planning and Transportation Committee Clerk.
The petition form should set out details of the application so that the signatories are certain what they are commenting on. The Planning Officer and the Planning and Transportation Committee must be confident that the petition is relevant and should be taken into account.
If the petition needs more than either a tick or a cross the petition form should state that the comments should not include information about a third party and must not be defamatory.
The petition form must include space for the signatory's name and address which must be completed. Telephone numbers and email addresses are not needed and if included have to be removed before the petition can be published.
The petition should include a data protection statement stating that the signatories know that their comments will be published.
The person organising the petition should submit it with the application number and his/her name and address. It is published as a single document with the signatories listed.
Members of the public may speak at the Planning Subcommittee regarding planning applications on the agenda for that meeting.
We notify everyone of the permission, who commented on the application but this may not be for several months, eg where a legal agreement is needed between the applicant and the City Corporation before the permission can be granted.
Objectors have no right of appeal if they disagree with the decision. In limited circumstances a decision can be challenged on the grounds that the City Corporation acted beyond its legal powers in coming to the decision.