East Suffolk Council
View and comment on a planning application
Please note: This service is only available to users located in the United Kingdom.
Please be aware that all comments submitted on applications are a matter of public record and will be published online via Public Access, so they will be visible to the applicant and the wider public. Therefore, prior to submitting comments on applications it is recommended that you read our guidance about commenting on a planning application, including the ‘Recording and publication of comments’ section, which explains why any comments you submit along with your name and postal address will be published online via Public Access.
Search for a planning application
Details of all current planning applications, listed building consent applications and advertisement consent applications can be viewed online via our Public Access system.
The details available to view on all current applications include the submitted plans and associated supporting documents.
Consultation comments are also uploaded and made available to view via the Public Access system, this includes all comments received from town/parish councils, statutory consultees such as the Local Highway Authority and from those neighbouring the site and other members of the public.
Once applications are determined, a copy of the decision notice is also published on Public Access. Decision notices are available from 1 July 1948 onwards.
Guidance on how to use the Public Access system
Searching for a current/specific application
To search for a specific application, insert the reference number in the search box and then click ‘search’.
If you do not know the reference number of the application, you can search by entering the first line of the postal address in the search box and then click ‘search’.
If you do not know the reference number of the application, and you are uncertain of the postal address, you can use the Advanced Search function to search by parish/town or find the location using the map function.
Before commenting on a planning application it is recommended that you read our Comment on a planning application page.
Information that can be seen on current applications
Once you have loaded the application that you are interested in, you will see there are a series of tabs providing access to information related to that case:
| Details > Summary | This tab provides a summary of the application including reference number, description of the proposal, date of validation, and current status. |
| Details > Important Dates | This tab provides a summary of the key dates on the application, including the valid date, the consultation expiry date and if an item is going to Planning Committee, it will include a date for that meeting. |
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Comments > Public Comments |
This provides a summary of the comments received from the general public (including neighbours). |
| Comments > Consultee Comments | This provides a summary of town/parish consultees and other organisations that have been consulted. |
| Related Cases | This provides a list of cases on the application site. Please note if a previous application had a different site area, it may not appear in this list. |
| Documents and Comments | This provides access to the submitted plans/documents and copies of the comments received (see below). Once a decision has been made a copy of the decision notice will appear here. |
| Map | This allows you to view the location of the application on a map of the district. |
If you wish to read an officer report, those for delegated items are uploaded to the documents and comments section once a decision is made.
Committee reports for cases that are going to Planning Committee will be published online a week prior to the meeting.
How to view plans
Load the application you are interested in on the Public Access system.
Click on the ‘Documents and Comments’ Tab, and then click on ‘View Associated Documents’.
A new window will appear, listing the submitted documents and copies of comments received. In order to view the document you are interesting in click on the reference number on that row in the list.
How to measure plans
The majority of the plans which are available to view online are uploaded as PDF documents, which can be viewed within your web browser.
Please read the Important Information on Copyright section.
Submitting comments on an application
Once you have registered on Public Access, you will be able to submit comments on current planning applications.
How to track what is happening on an application
If you are interested in a specific planning application and have registered as a user of Public Access, you can choose to track the application. You will then receive an automated email every time the status of the application changes, including when a decision is issued. You can also stop tracking.
Other information available on Public Access
All formal decision notices issued from 1948 onwards, within the East Suffolk Council Area, are available via the public access system. This includes, but is not limited to:
- advertisement consents/refusals
- discharge of condition approvals/refusals
- environmental impact assessment scoping and screening opinions
- full planning permissions/refusals
- listed building consents/refusals
- non-material amendment approvals/refusals
- outline planning permissions/refusals
- prior notification approvals/refusals
- reserved matters approvals/refusals
- tree works approvals/refusals (relating to Tree Preservation Orders and trees within conservation areas)
- variation of condition approvals/refusals
Other documents such as drawings on older cases (primarily pre-2000) are not generally available online and are currently held in storage. These are gradually being scanned and made available online. Therefore, it is advisable to check via public access to see if the documents are available prior to requesting them from the Local Planning Authority.
To request access to documents and plans associated with older cases that are not currently available online, contact our Land Charges team with the reference number of the case you wish to view. There is currently a charge for this service.
Please note the section regarding copyright requirements relating to such documents.
How to be notified of future applications
Whilst the Local Planning Authority undertakes consultation in accordance with its Statement of Community Involvement, you may wish to be made aware of applications across a wider area or a different part of the district.
The ‘Save a Search’ facility in Public Access allows registered users to save any search they have undertaken using the Public Access system. If you have registered as a user and save your search, it will be available for you to re-run when you revisit the site, without having to re-input the search criteria.
When you save a search, you will be given the option to allow the system to automatically email you if/when there is a change to the search, e.g. the status of an application changes or a new application has been received (see advanced search below).
How to undertake an advanced search
Prior to undertaking a search for planning history through this system, please read the disclaimer at the end of this page.
When using the advanced search function you can search using any of the search fields and date ranges or any combination of them. For instance you could search under a parish, an application type and a date range all together or individually.
You can also search using a date range without filling in the 'to' date blank. For example, all types of planning applications received in a particular parish or ward from 01/07/13 to (leave blank).
If this search is saved, and you elect to be notified of changes, then you would receive an email when the status of an application changes or when a new application is received within that parish or ward.
How to search without a postal address
Before undertaking a search for planning history in Public Access, please read the disclaimer at the end of this page.
If you do not know the postal address of a building or area of land, you can search for applications using the map tab on the search page in Public Access.
Once you have opened the map tab, you can search for records within a given area by zooming in and panning across the map. Zooming in will open up additional information to identify the nearest record to the centre of the map.
The ‘Legend and Filter’ to the right of the map enables you to limit your results to specific types and time periods.
This method of searching can also be saved by registered users and search results returned from a chosen distance from the centre of the map.
How to find out other information about a specific property/area of land
We offer an online Geographic Information System (GIS) to search for map based information including Local Plan, Section 106 Agreements, conservation areas, listed buildings, Tree Preservation Orders, enforcement and stop register, register of contaminated land, parish boundaries, aerial photography (1999 and 2007) and historical maps of parts of the district.
In addition to the information available on this website there are a number of other sources of publicly available information online, for example the Suffolk Archives.
The Local Planning Authority do not hold records of land or property ownership. For such queries you will need to contact Land Registry.
Important information about copyright
Please note that plans, drawings and other material submitted to local authorities for planning applications are protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
You may only use material which is downloaded and/or printed for consultation purposes, to compare current applications with previous schemes and to check whether developments have been completed in accordance with approved plans. Further copies must not be made without the prior permission of the copyright owner.
Disclaimer
Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the data, planning information contained within the site is at present incomplete. It is not intended to be used as a substitute for carrying out a formal land charge search and should not be used as such.
The information contained on this site may contain technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. No responsibility will be taken for any errors or omissions in the planning history information obtained from the Public Access system. Similarly the information contained within Public Access does not constitute, in any way, a formal notification of a planning decision, and as such any actions taken as a result of information displayed on the site are undertaken entirely at the viewer’s own risk.