Spelthorne Borough Council processes your personal information: 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?
When you contact the Planning Service, we will routinely collect certain personal information from you in order to be able to assist you with your enquiry, application query or comment.
The type of information we collect will depend on the nature of the enquiry: general enquiry, pre-application enquiry, planning application, enforcement activities or comments on an application, or a third party, are making.
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.
There may be circumstances where special category data, or other personal information which is of a sensitive nature such as details of personal vulnerabilities and financial information regarding yourself or your existing or proposed business interests may be processed by the Council.
We will only ask for personal information that is appropriate to enable us to deliver our services. If you refuse to provide personal information that has been requested this will impact on our ability to provide some services to you.
Why does the Council process personal data?
We use your information in a variety of ways:
- To process your request, for example to reply to any planning, enforcement or local land charge enquiries, including pre-application matters such as on the need for planning permission or the likelihood of obtaining it, or information related to plan-making and policies.
- To process any planning or related application, or comment, you submit. Please note;
- Once validated, all applications, and supporting documents, submitted including statements, photographs, plans, drawings and viability statements will be made available on the Council's website and made available to internal and external consultees.
- Before information is displayed on our website or submitted to consultees or, in the case of an appeal, the planning inspectorate it is checked and certain personal data (for example, all signatures, personal phone numbers and personal email addresses) is redacted.
- We may confirm your identity (name and address) when you make a planning or land charge enquiry or comment on any planning or related application or appeal, or make comments or representations on a development plan document, so we know where the comment or information came from and can weigh the relevance of any comments made.
- Planning enforcement complaints are treated confidentially wherever reasonably possible. The Council will not routinely disclose the identity of complainants to the subject of an investigation or to members of the public. However, there may be circumstances where the Council is required or permitted by law to disclose information, for example where disclosure is necessary for legal proceedings, required by a court or tribunal, necessary for the investigation or prevention of crime, or required to comply with a statutory obligation. Any disclosure will be considered on a case-by-case basis and only where lawful, necessary and proportionate.
- Regarding comments submitted about a planning application. 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 may publish other information which may inadvertently identify you or where you live.
The lawful bases we rely on to process your personal data are:
Legal obligation relating to the "Town and Country Planning Act 1990, Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) Order 2015"
Public task 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 council).
Special Category Information
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, we 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.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
The Planning Development Management and Planning Enforcement Service may use approved Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to assist officers with administrative tasks, including the preparation of meeting notes, minutes, correspondence, reports, case summaries, document drafting, transcription of recordings, and the organisation of information.
Where AI is used during meetings, interviews, site visits, discussions or other interactions, participants will be informed that AI technology is being used in accordance with the Council's AI Policy.
Any information processed by AI tools will be handled in accordance with UK data protection legislation, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and associated guidance issued by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
AI-generated content is reviewed by a Council officer before it is relied upon, published, shared or used in decision-making. The Council does not use AI to make solely automated planning or planning enforcement decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects on individuals.
Personal information processed through approved AI systems will only be used for the purposes described in this Privacy Notice and will be subject to appropriate security, retention and governance controls.
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 removed from the website once the decision has been issued.
If you have any direct enquiries, Spelthorne Borough Council's Data Protection Officer can be contacted at data.protection@spelthorne.gov.uk.
Last updated: 23 September 2026
This Privacy Notice was updated to reflect the Council's Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy and current data protection requirements relating to the use of AI-assisted technologies.