Open planning meetings give the public the opportunity to see the deliberations of the Committee and how planning decisions are reached and public speaking allows applicants and third parties who have submitted comments a chance to present their views.
Open Planning Meetings Guidance
- Open Planning Meetings are arranged when required under the Scheme of Delegation.
Approved Scheme of Delegation [199kb] - for Planning and Building Control functions
Public Speaking at Open Planning Meetings
- On the 29th March 2011 the first open planning meeting was held and provision for public speaking has been in effect since Tuesday 15th November 2011. This provides an opportunity to speak either in support of or against the application to be decided for any member of the public or States Deputy who has submitted a representation and has notified us in writing of their intention to speak.
- We support wide public debate about planning applications and believe that people may be able to make their views better known if they are not limited to making comments only in writing.
- For those applications considered at an Open Planning Meeting, public speaking allows applicants and third parties who have submitted comments a chance to present their views.
Request to Speak at Open Planning Meetings
- Any member of the public or States Deputy who would like to speak either in support of or against the application to be decided must do two things:
- Submit a representation in writing (by letter or Contact Us) within the period specified for publicity of that application (normally 21 days), or be the applicant and/or their agent for that application
- Notify us in writing (by letter or Contact Us) of their intention to speak which is received by us by 12.00 Noon two working days prior to the date of the Open Planning Meeting. (i.e. by 12.00 Noon on Monday for an OPM held on a Wednesday).
- Please note that you must do both 1 and 2 of the above in order to be permitted to speak.
Points to Make when Speaking at Open Planning Meetings
- Authority members may only take into account comments or objections that are 'material' and relevant to planning and to the application to be decided. See
- Where more than one speaker is speaking either for or against the application, subsequent speakers must confine their submissions to new points and not repeat points made by earlier speakers.
- Please note:
- the President or Vice President presiding at a particular Open Planning Meeting may, in exceptional circumstances, alter, waive or vary the procedures in this protocol where they consider this is necessary in the particular case to ensure fairness and to enable proper and effective debate.
- points must be made orally. The Authority will not receive any additional written or other submissions during the meeting for fairness reasons as these cannot be properly assessed, considered by others or circulated in time.
- speakers may not attempt to contact Authority Members in any way during the meeting other than through the allotted time (4 minutes) for speaking so that the process is fair to all.
- the Authority members may request clarification of matters from the speaker
What Happens at Open Planning Meetings
- Consideration of an agenda item at the Open Planning Meeting will usually take the following route:
- the presentation of the item by the planning officer
- public speaking by any representors opposing or supporting the application (limited to 4 minutes per speaker)
- public speaking by the applicant and/or their agent
- questions to the planning officer by Authority Members
- debate by Authority Members
- decision by Authority Members
- Please note that the President or Vice President presiding at a particular Open Planning Meeting may, in exceptional circumstances, alter, waive or vary the procedures in this protocol where they consider this is necessary in the particular case to ensure fairness and to enable proper and effective debate.
Current Open Planning Meeting Agenda
- The agenda and planning application reports for each Open Planning Meeting will be available seven days before the date of the Open Planning Meeting.
- Please note that on rare occasions, dates of meetings and/or the venue may be altered. Please check back to this page nearer to the date of the proposed meeting.
- Next Meeting -
- Date: Tuesday 19 March 2024
- Venue: Saumarez Room, Beau Sejour
- Time: 14:15hrs
- Agenda:
- Planning Report:
Past Meeting Agendas
- The agendas and papers for previous Open Planning Meetings can be found at www.gov.gg/opmpapers.
