Privacy Notice Planning Development Management

Planning Development Management Privacy Notice

Spelthorne Borough Council and its subsidiaries has processed your personal information to allow you to comment on planning applications within the Borough of Spelthorne.

In order to comply with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation, Spelthorne Borough Council must provide you with the following information about the personal data you give to us, or we receive via third parties.

What information does the Council collect?

We need your personal data such as name, address, contact details, property information such as location of site, your comments (we ask that you only provide information that is relevant and limited to the planning application you are commenting on). We may also process your personal information that we receive from third parties relating to planning issues.

Please note that we cannot receive anonymous representations, nor can we remove comments (which may include information that identifies the writer or where they live, directly or indirectly) from our website once we have received them.

Why does the Council process personal data?

Our purpose is to allow you to comment about a planning application we have received. Your comments may be for or against the submission and may include personal information that inadvertently identifies you. We will use the information to consider the planning application that we have received and, publish your comments on our website in order to demonstrate that the planning process is transparent and that all due consideration has been given to the process.  However, we will publish other information which may inadvertently identify you or where you live.

The lawful basis we rely on to process your personal data is article 6(1)(e) of the UK GDPR, which allows us to process personal data when this is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller (Spelthorne Borough Council).

We ask that you do not provide us with any special category information as defined in the UK GDPR unless it is necessary and central to the planning application you are commenting on.

Special category data is personal information such as racial or ethnic origin, political opinion, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, data concerning health, personal sex life or sex orientation. 

If the information you provide us or we receive in relation to your comments contains special category data, the lawful basis we rely on to process it is article 9(2)(g) of the UK GDPR, where processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest. Spelthorne Borough Council will provide suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and the interests of the data subjects. When publishing your comments, we will redact any information that is deemed special category data, and personal information that could be used for identity fraud.

Who does the Council share your personal data with?

When we process your personal data we will share your information with other departments within Spelthorne Borough Council, the Planning Committee, the Planning Inspectorate if the application is determined at appeal/committee and other relevant bodies. We will publish your representation on our website which can be accessed from anywhere in the world and where necessary, redact certain information such as special category data, and any other information in order to reduce your risk of identity theft. Any representations which contain obvious offensive comments will not be processed. Personal data which may directly or indirectly identify the writer may be incorporated within the final officer report which will be published on the Council's website.

In certain circumstances where there is a potential for the involvement of fraudulent or unlawful practice, we may need to provide your personal data to other statutory bodies including enforcement agencies, competent authorities, relevant authorities, and Courts of law.

If required to share any personal information with other bodies as mentioned above, we share information securely and proportionately.

How long does the Council keep your data?

Copies of planning application documents, notices, certificates and approvals are kept permanently.

Planning application third party correspondence is kept for up to 7 years after the planning decision has been made or the appeal decision made.   All comments submitted on planning applications are deleted from the website once the decision has been issued.

For further information about how the Council uses your personal data, including your rights as a data subject, please see below. 

If you have any direct enquiries, Spelthorne Borough Council's Data Protection Officer can be contacted at data.protection@spelthorne.gov.uk.

The GDPR provides the various rights regarding your personal data; for further information please see the data protection rights page on our website.