Planning information

Once a Planning Appication in Principle or a Full Planning Application has been lodged, the public has time to send in a so called Representation, a fancy word for either a letter of support or an objection. Representations are important for Planning Officers when they make their recommendations and Councillors when they take a decision on applications.

Representations can be sent by email, they can be posted by mail, or they can be lodged on the online portals.  Where to send emails and letters to depends on the application.  Smaller developments will be decided by The Highland Council and will only have to be sent to them. Larger developments get decided by Scottish Ministers and will have to be sent to the Energy Consents Unit as well as to The Highland Council. Offshore applications will be decided by the Marine Directorate and will have to be sent to them as well as The Highland Council.

Applications get advertised in a local paper. For Caithness this is either the John O'Groat Journal or the Caithness Courier. For smaller applications the deadline for representations is two weeks after publication, for larger applications it is 30 days. However, for larger applications the deadline is not binding and it is well worth submitting a representation even if you are late. Developers sometimes take the chance to submit additional material while the application is considered and if they do the public gets a chance to respond again.

You can find information on how to write a representation and how to submit it in the next section 'Writing a representation'. You don't have to worry about reading the newspapers every week or missing an important application, if you sign up for our mailing list. Our newsletter contains all the relevant information and a comment on the application.