Local planning authorities must publicise planning applications but this is done by various means according to the nature of the proposal. Site notices should always be placed at one or more places on the site or adjoining land but in some circumstances the application will also be advertised in the local press. A good planning authority will send out neighbour notification letters to all those nearby properties that they consider might be affected by the proposal but generally this is limited to the smaller applications. The publicity is frequently ineffective, and many residents only become aware of a proposal that might significantly affect them when it is too late for them to object.

Once a planning application has been registered by the local planning authority it (and associated files) can be inspected at the planning department office. The accompanying plans are technically the copyright of the applicant and many authorities will decline to provide copies. You may be allowed to take digital photographs of the plans (check with the local planning authority first) or the authority might provide a copying service at a charge. A planning casework officer is appointed to process the case. He or she should be accessible either by telephone or in the planning office but this might need to be by prior appointment as caseloads can be very high.

The more complex planning applications may be required to include an environmental impact assessment, which can be lengthy but a useful document in any campaign against a proposal.

There are two types of planning permission. Outline permission establishes the principle of development and must be followed within a period of three years from approval by the submission of reserved matters (ie the detail that is missing), failing this the consent becomes invalid. Full planning permission, after approval, is valid for a period of five years and must include more details of the proposal and in the case of certain development may include an environmental statement setting out the impacts of the proposed development. It is important to comment appropriately depending on the type of application.

The local planning authority must carry out consultation on planning proposals. There are two categories:

• Statutory consultation (required by law): consultees can include English Nature, English Heritage, public utilities, Highways Agency depending on the nature of the proposal.
   
• Non-statutory consultation (at the discretion of the planning authority): consultees might include the local wildlife trust or the Campaign to Protect Rural England. The Forestry Commission has been recommended by the Government as a non-statutory consultee for applications affecting ancient woodland.

Consultees are usually given a specified period to comment and if they fail to do so the planning authority will not necessarily pursue a response. The public is not strictly entitled to a sight of consultees’ responses, but details of these may be published later as part of the planning casework officer’s report to the planning committee.

There is a presumption in law that a planning application will be determined in accordance with the policies set out in the development plan unless “material considerations” indicate otherwise. These can include national and regional planning policy guidance, special designations (eg TPO, SSSI), the history and layout of the site, services, wildlife habitats, access and traffic and effects on other people. Factors which will not be taken into consideration include the identity or personal circumstances of the applicant, financial viability of a scheme and other regulations such as environmental health or building regulations. It should also be remembered that, except in rare circumstances, no property owner is legally entitled to retain an existing view of surrounding land or countryside.

In Britain planning applications are decided by elected councillors (unless delegated authority has been given to individual casework officers within the planning authority – usually applied to smaller proposals). In Northern Ireland they are decided by the divisional planning officer, though district councils are consulted.

The casework officer assembles all the information and then submits a report for consideration. This report can be revealing as to the background to the recommendations and will include a draft of the conditions that will be included in the consent notice if it is recommended that the application be approved. It should usually include a summary of the consultees and objectors comments. The public are entitled to a copy of this report (usually on payment of a copying charge or it can be viewed free in the council offices).

Once planning permission is granted, there is no third party right of appeal against it other than through the courts of law by means of the judicial review process  which is potentially costly and can only be on points of law or breach of procedure. (In Scotland there are proposals to introduce a third party right of appeal.)

If planning consent is refused, the applicant may appeal (Planning appeals and public inquiries). If an objection has previously been lodged, the planning authority is obliged to notify the objector that an appeal against the decision has been submitted. This gives the objector the opportunity to pursue the objection at the appeal.

If you are concerned about the potential effects of a planning proposal on a wood or tree, take the following steps:

• Check if the wood or tree is ancient on our interactive map (click here) and if it is submit the case to us.
• Find out how long you have to submit comments. The limit is usually 28 days. It may be possible to submit comments after this in good time before the application is determined, although you must first check this with the planning authority.
• Visit the local planning authority office to look at the details of the application. Allow plenty of time to do this and if you wish to speak to the casework officer arrange an appointment in advance. If an environmental impact assessment is required, study this too.
• Investigate the relevant development plan. Copies will be available in the planning authority offices or often on the council’s website. Check to see if the application is in line with the stated policies – if not, you should quote the relevant policies in your written objection. If it is in line with the plan, but you feel this is outweighed by other material considerations then list these in your objection, taking care to concentrate on planning issues. Planning authorities are obliged to review the development plan regularly and in addition to the adopted plan, there may be a draft plan in preparation which you should also quote to the planning authority.
• Gather any supporting evidence that may be relevant. For instance, the wood or tree may be of particular ecological value. You could commission a professional ecologist to survey the site, looking particularly for protected species. In larger applications the environmental statement submitted as part of the planning application should cover this but it is also possible that the existence or extent of protected species has been missed. Your local Wildlife Trust may be able to help with the names of suitably qualified people in the area.
• Put together your objections in a coherent form. Remember they must be set out in the context of planning policy and must be made on planning grounds. Simple NIMBYism (not in my back yard) will not hold sway with the planning authority.
• Submit a formal written objection to the plans, quoting the number of the application.
• Check whether any statutory consultees have been contacted, if you consider their response might be particularly relevant to the planning outcome. It might be worth directly contacting a statutory consultee to establish whether they have received the notification and whether they intend to reply.
• If the wood is ancient, check the Forestry Commission is being consulted – the Government has recommended it should be for applications in England and Wales.
• If the site is parkland on the Historic parks and gardens register, check whether English Heritage, CADW (Welsh Historic Monuments), Historic Scotland, or Environment and Heritage Service (Northern Ireland) is being consulted.
• Check at an early stage with the planning authority whether the application is to be determined by the casework officer under delegated powers, or by the planning committee. If the former, there will be no report available in the public domain but, if the latter, you should check when the application is likely to be heard and obtain a copy of the casework officer’s report for the pre-committee period.
• Lobby councillors on the planning committee. In Britain, you are entitled to learn the name and address of the councillors on the planning committee and there is nothing to stop you from lobbying these councillors in writing, collectively or individually in the three day period prior to committee, particularly if you think that the casework officer has failed to include valid information in the report. They will listen to your views but will not be allowed to express an opinion in advance of the meeting to consider the application. (If they did so they might be disqualified from speaking or voting on the issue in committee.) In Northern Ireland, you will need to get district councillors to raise the issue with the divisional planning officer.
• Consider contacting the councillors for the area in which the application is located at an earlier stage (these councillors may not be members of the planning committee). Do not assume that when a councillor apparently supports your objection that he / she will automatically maintain this support throughout the planning process.
• Indicate in good time if you wish to appear before the planning committee. Some local planning authorities will allow an objector to appear before the committee when the casework officer’s recommendation is being considered but a strict time limit is applied.
• If you believe a case has been incorrectly handled by the local authority you may be able to appeal to the local government ombudsman for your country.

In some cases, you may feel that simply writing a letter of objection will not be sufficient, and that a full campaign against the application will be needed.

• Roy Speer and Michael Dade, 1998, How to stop and influence planning permission (Stonepound books 2nd edition 1998)
   
• Friends of the Earth, 2001, How to win: saving wildlife sites
   

• The English planning system
   
• The Scottish planning system
   
• The Welsh planning system
  (Y Drefn Gynllunio yng Nghymru)
   
• The planning system in Northern Ireland
   
• Permitted development in Britain
   
• Planning appeals and public inquiries
   
• Minerals applications
   
• British Standard 5837 – trees and development
   
• The local government ombudsmen