Guide to commenting

Online: Go to view planning applications and search for the application you wish to comment on using the application reference or part of the address. Click on the relevant application. The application details will be displayed and if the application can be accept comments then at the top of the summary section will be a blue box displaying ‘Please Log In to submit a comment’. If you do not already have an account then, in order to submit a comment online, you will need to create an account, which will then allow you to submit a comment on the application.

Email: planning@newforestnpa.gov.uk quoting the relevant application number.

Post: Planning Department, Lymington Town Hall, Avenue Road, Lymington, SO41 9ZG, quoting the relevant application number

If you are making a comment on a current planning application this will be available to view on our website and may be inspected on request at our offices at Lymington Town Hall. We don’t acknowledge comments, but they will be published on our website within three working days of receipt by us, subject to being screened for any inappropriate content as described below. We will specify whether a representation is in support or objects to the proposal, or whether it is just a neutral comment, therefore please make it clear in which capacity you are writing. If an appeal is subsequently submitted, you will be notified and copies of the representations will be passed to the Planning Inspectorate. If you no longer wish to be involved in the matter details of how to withdraw your comments will be provided to you. 

When commenting on an application you should confine your remarks to relevant planning matters and refrain from making personal assertions about National Park staff or any other interested parties. Your comments should only include information that you are happy to be published on our website and should not include any inappropriate, defamatory or offensive material.  We may redact (blank out) some information from representations prior to publication, where it would not be appropriate for us to put the comments into the public domain, for example if it contains the personal data of third parties, defamatory or offensive language or other sensitive data. We will not publish information that contains special categories of personal data, as defined in the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), such as information relating to the health, ethnicity, religious beliefs etc. of identifiable individuals. 

If we consider that comments cannot be redacted, they will not be accepted nor published on our website. You may be asked to modify your comments and re-submit them before they can be taken into consideration. 

For guidance about what is a relevant planning consideration please refer to the Material Considerations section and guidance available at the following link Determining a planning application – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 

Transparency and data protection 

We recognise the importance of transparency to enable the public to fully participate in the planning process and so that our decisions may be scrutinised. We have a duty to maintain a public Planning Register which contains details of the planning applications that are being or have been determined. The Planning Register includes the name of the applicant(s) and the application site address (which often will be the home address of the applicant) and also the names and addresses of those who submit comments, however we will take all reasonable steps to redact personal (but not business) telephone numbers, email addresses, and signatures before publication. We will contact you to request your name and address if you do not provide it in the first instance.  However, if you choose not to give your postal address, your comment will still be uploaded to our website and taken into account when we determine the application, however it may be given less weight because we will not be able to determine how the application directly affects you or your property. Anonymous comments are unlikely to be given significant weight when deciding an application or may be rejected in their entirety if we consider it is appropriate to do so.      

We process personal data for planning purposes under Article 6(1)(e) of the GDPR – the processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller i.e. as the Local Planning Authority. Data subjects have the right to object to the processing of their data where it is being processed under Article 6(1)(e), however this is not an absolute right and any requests would be considered based on the particular circumstances. Should you wish to exercise your rights under the GDPR or would like more information regarding how we process personal information, please contact our Information and Data Protection Officer on dpo@newforestnpa.gov.uk. Further privacy information is available here Privacy and cookies – New Forest National Park Authority (newforestnpa.gov.uk).