Who we are:
We are the Development Management and Enforcement Teams (including Built Conservation and the Waste and Minerals specialisms) within the Planning Service for Gwynedd Council. This privacy notice explains how we use information in the course of carrying out our duties. This work is wide ranging and includes:
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Making recommendations and decisions on all types of planning applications and providing advice on planning enquiries
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Representing the Council at various meetings to promote the best use of land
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Responding to complaints relating to potential unlawful development
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Monitoring developments
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Entering legal agreements, serving notices and dealing with planning appeals
How we get your information:
We get your information when you submit a planning application and this can be done in two ways – either it is supplied to us directly (by you or by someone acting on your behalf e.g. a planning agent) or the application can be received from a third party website that provides a transaction service such as the one provided by ‘Planning Portal’.
We also receive your information when you, or someone acting on your behalf, make comments, representations, complaints, pre-application enquiries and present questions/queries through our website, via email, by post or by telephone.
What we do with your information:
To allow us to deal with a wide range of planning matters, including making recommendations and decisions on planning applications, individuals must provide us with some personal data (e.g. name, address, contact details). In a small number of circumstances applicants/individuals will provide us with “special category data” in support of their application (e.g. evidence of medical history, financial or business information).
We use the information provided to us to offer advice, make recommendations and/or reach decisions on planning matters. This is known as a “public task” and is why we do not need you to “opt in” to allow your information to be used.
Under the regulations we are obliged to make some of the information available on the planning register. The planning register contains the main information in the file pertaining to the planning application. However, the Planning Service will keep the planning application file in its entirety and this will form a permanent record of planning decisions and will provide information about the planning history of the application and the site, along with other information, some of which may form part of the “land search”.
How we share your information:
We do not sell your information to other organisations. We do not move your information beyond the UK. We do not use your information for automated decision making.
Details of planning applications, including supporting documents provided either by you/your agent and those provided to you by third parties e.g. surveys, expert opinions etc, will be available online so that people can comment on planning applications as part of the consultation period. We will sometimes need to share the information we have with other departments within the Council, for example, when we need to establish or investigate certain planning matters or other Council related matters.We also ask a sample of applicants to participate in a follow-up “how did we do?” survey to see how we can improve it.
Redaction:
We operate a policy where we routinely redact the following details before making forms and
documents available online:
● Personal contact details for the applicant - e.g. telephone numbers, email addresses
● Signatures provided on the application form
● Special Category Data - e.g. supporting statements that include information about medical history, ethnic origin, financial or business information
● Information clearly agreed to be confidential
Sometimes we might decide it is necessary, justified and lawful to disclose data that appears in the list above. In these circumstances we will let you know of our intention before we publish anything.
If you are submitting supporting information which you would like to be treated confidentially
or wish to be specifically withheld from the public register, please let us know as soon as you
can - ideally in advance of submitting the application. The best way to contact us about this
issue is cynllunio@gwynedd.llyw.cymru.
Retention:
We process many different types of information and the specific retention periods are available on request.
Complaints and problems
If you think we have got something wrong or there is a reason you would prefer for something not to be disclosed please contact us to discuss your concerns by e-mailing: cynllunio@gwynedd.llyw.cymru
If you need to make a complaint specifically about the way we have processed your data you may contact the Council’s Data Protection Officer.