The Parish Council is currently reviewing procedures for dealing with planning applications in the village, and anyone wishing to provide input on the issue is invited to attend the next Parish Council meeting on Wednesday 7th June starting at 7.30 pm.

It should be stressed that the PC's role is purely advisory to the District Council, but if it objects to any application, then that application has to go before the full ECDC committee rather than simply being dealt with by the planning officers.

The current status is as follows. When an application is submitted to Ely, a copy of the plans is sent to the Parish Council for discussion. A notice is also posted on the Parish Council notice board (in front of the church), so if you look there you can keep abreast of any current applications. Usually the planning department also send a postcard to neighbours of the person making the application stating that they can view the plans at Ely. I have a copy too, so anyone interested can come and look at them here.

The matter will then form an agenda item at the next PC meeting. At that meeting the person applying for the permission is given two minutes to put forward any points, as is a representative of any objectors, i.e. two minutes for, two minutes against. Should there not be an agreement to approve or object to the plans, the seven parish councillors take a vote. A proxy vote (if a councillor is unable to attend a meeting) is not admissible. The outcome, along with detailed comments is then forwarded to the District Council for incorporation into the case papers presented to the ECDC Planning Committee members who make the final decision (subject to appeal to the Department of the Environment).