Planning

Decisions on Totternhoe’s planning applications are made by Central Bedfordshire Council planning authority. Totternhoe Parish Council does not decide applications but is informed of all planning applications in the parish and is a key consultee, meaning the Council is invited to give its views on each application to the planning authority.

All planning applications received by the Parish Council are looked at firstly be the planning committee of Totternhoe Parish Council and are logged by the parish clerk at the following meeting. 

Planning applications, particularly those concerning ‘major’ developments, can often evoke strong feelings and trigger passionate debates, so Totternhoe Parish Council is happy to take local residents’ views into consideration when making its response to an application, should the consultation window allow this (the consultation period for all planning applications is around 21 days, meaning not all planning applications can be considered by the Parish Council at its scheduled meetings).

However, residents are asked to please bear in mind that the Council seeks to respond to all planning applications in an informed and balanced way, taking into account a range of factors including material planning considerations and the probable impact of an application on the community as a whole. It is therefore possible that, in some cases, residents may disagree with the Council’s response to an application.

As previously noted, the Council is merely a consultee on planning matters and does not have the power to ‘determine’ an application. Therefore, local residents who wish to comment on planning applications or who disagree with the Parish Council’s view are encouraged to express their individual views by contacting the Central Bedfordshire planning authority