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Planning and Building Control

What we do

The Planning and Building Control service collects and processes personal information about you in order to provide planning and building control services and meet our statutory obligations. We use your information for the purposes of:

  • processing and determining planning applications
  • building control regulations
  • dangerous structures
  • street naming and numbering
  • developing planning policy
  • responding to allegations of unlawful development.

We have a statutory obligation to provide these services in accordance with the following legislation:

  • The Building Act 1984
  • The London Building Act 1939
  • Town and Country Planning Act 1990
  • Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004
  • Planning Act 2008
  • Proceeds of Crime Act 2002
  • Local Government Act 1972.

Any relevant future legislation may be added to this list.

What type of information we collect

In order to administer our services we collect the following information from you:

  • name
  • address
  • email
  • telephone number
  • bank details
  • agent contact details (if applicable)
  • full address of the development.

To allow us to make decisions on their applications individuals must provide us with some personal data such as name, address and contact details. In a small number of circumstances individuals will provide us with special category data in support of their application such as evidence of medical history, bank statements, utility bills and tenancy agreements.

We use the information provided to us to make decisions about the use of land in the public interest. This is known as a public task legal basis for processing.

Some information provided to us we are obliged under the regulations to make available on planning registers. This is a permanent record of our planning decisions that form part of the planning history of a site, along with other facts that form part of the land search.

The Council is required to publish planning applications in the planning register which can be found on its website.

We charge for Planning and Building Control applications and will record payment amounts made, amounts outstanding and the action taken to recover monies owed.

Enforcement cases remain confidential and at no time will we divulge the details of complainants who have informed us of alleged planning breaches.

Generally, the information we hold will have been provided by you on an application or enquiry form or when we communicate with you, but we may also hold information provided by third parties where this is relevant such as complainants, Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) and other council departments.

We will only ask for personal information that is appropriate to enable us to deliver our services.  In some cases, you can refuse to provide your details if you deem a request to be inappropriate.  However, you should note that this may impact on our ability to provide some services to you.

Who we may share your information with

We may share information you have provided, and obtain information about you from other Council departments such as Highways or Housing where held and only as appropriate.

We may share your information with external agencies such as the Planning Inspectorate or the LGO in the event of direct appeals or complaints.

We will not disclose any information to any company outside of the Royal Borough of Greenwich except to prevent fraud, or if required to do so by law.

How long we keep your information

We process many different types of information according to our retention and disposal schedule.

Planning decisions are kept in hard copy format for approximately six months and then they are required to be published on our website and the information retained with no end date.

Version date
June 2019