Commenting on Planning Applications

Why are you consulted?

When making decisions about planning applications, the Council takes into account the views of those people who are likely to be affected by the development. You may wish to support an application, suggest changes to it to overcome any concerns you may have, or raise objections.

If an application has been submitted, properties with land adjoining the application site will normally be consulted for their views.  For Major proposals which would have a greater impact on the local area sometimes additional consultation with surrounding properties is required. In all cases consultation is undertaken in accordance with the statutory requirements of National Government and the pdf Statement of Community Involvement (1.38 MB) .

How are you consulted?

In the first instance any correspondence from the City Council will be in the form of a letter, the letter sets out the application reference number, describes the development and the time scale for any comments to be provided (in most cases this is 21 days from the date of the letter). Please note that should you provide us with your email address any additional contact will be via email.

Making comments

Make a comment

If you wish to provide the City Council with your comments on an application it is recommended that you utilise the Planning Search Function to review the online documentation and make comments online. This allows the City Council to process the comments quicker and provides you with a notification of receipt.

Please note It may take a few days before your comment is viewable on the online planning application.

Should you be unable to provide comments online, it is helpful to quote the application reference number and the site address of the application to which your comments relate. Comments made by letter should be addressed to Planning, Worcester City Council, The Guildhall, High Street, Worcester, WR1 2EY. Please note that no acknowledgement of receipt will be provided for comments made in this way. Generally, the City Council requires 48 hours to process comments made on planning applications.

Should you wish to make any further representations to an application following publication of the Planning Committee agenda all comments should be received by no later than 4pm on the Tuesday before the Planning Committee meeting to enable circulation to Members of the Planning Committee for their attention in the consideration of the application at the meeting.

If you experience any technical problems when using our webpages then please let us know by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Any comments made on an application will in conjunction with the name and address of the consultee, form a public document and be displayed online for viewing by members of the public. For full privacy information please see the Development Control Privacy Notice

The content of your comments should accord with the pdf Terms and Conditions (68 KB)  of the Planning Search Function.  The City Council can only take into account what are referred to as material planning considerations when reviewing the content of public comments. Any comments that are inflammatory or slanderous will not be displayed online or considered by the Case Officer. Anonymous comments will also not be considered by the Case Officer.

A guide to making comments on applications has been produced that sets out the issues that can and cannot be considered by the City Council.

Notification of Decisions and Planning Committee Meetings

The City Council does not notify members of the public of decisions taken on applications. The Planning Search Function is updated once a decision is reached and the relevant Decision Notice is available to view.

The City Council does not notify members of the public which Planning Committee meeting an application may be taken too. The Planning Search Function however is updated with a Target Committee Date if an application is selected for a Planning Committee meeting.

Should you wish to make any further representations to an application following publication of the Planning Committee agenda all comments should be received by no later than 4pm on the Tuesday before the Planning Committee meeting to enable circulation to Members of the Planning Committee for their attention in the consideration of the application at the meeting.

It is advisable that interested parties should review the Planning Committee information to familiarise themselves with the process.