Speaking at Council meetings – Frequently asked questions

Public speaking rules

Note: These rules do not override Council Procedure Rule 20(1).

Who can make a speech to the Committee?1. Those who have written either in support of or against a planning application which is to be considered by Planning Committee, will have the opportunity to speak on that application, subject to the following criteria:-

a. Applicant/Agent/those in favour of approval–

for applications recommended for approval, the ability to speak will only be granted if there is a member of the public speaking in favour of refusal (to ensure a balance of views is put to the Committee) (Applicants/agents will take priority in this instance).

 For applications recommended for refusal, only the applicant or their agent will be permitted to speak in favour of approval.

b. Objector (only if they are a resident of Thanet); for applications recommended for refusal, the ability to speak will only be granted if there is a member of the public speaking in favour of approval (to ensure a balance of views is put to the Committee)

c. Town Council/Parish Council representatives

(TDC Planning Committee Members will not be permitted to take this slot); and

 d. Ward Councillors– Council Procedure Rule 20(1).

Public speaking will be limited as follows:-a. Only one slot is available for those in favour, for those against and the Parish/Town Council representative. Speaking slots are offered on a first come, first served basis.

b. Those who have missed the opportunity to speak will be given the details of their Ward Councillor(s). The Committee Clerk will forward the contact details of members of the public who are speaking on applications to the relevant Ward Councillor(s) for their information/assistance.

The Ward Councillor(s) can either direct those who were unsuccessful to the appointed speaker to enable affected persons to make a co-ordinated response or the Councillor can choose to appear before the Committee themselves under Council Procedure Rule 20(1).

Members of the public will be informed that their contact details may be given out if more than one person wishes to speak. It will then be their decision if they wish to proceed.

 c. If the applicant/agent wishes to speak, he or she will be given preference over other speakers in favour of approval.

 d. If an application is recommended for approval there will be no speakers in favour unless there is a speaker against the application (to ensure a balance of views is put to the Committee).

 e. If an application is recommended for refusal there will be no speakers against unless there is a speaker in favour of the application (to ensure a balance of views is put to the Committee).

 f. Where a site inspection is recommended by the officers, no public speaking will take place until the following Planning Committee where the final decision will be made.

 g. If Members decide to overturn an officers recommendation of a site visit, the application will be deferred and brought back to the next Committee to enable public speaking to take place.

 h. If a site inspection is approved by Members after public speaking has taken place (contrary to officer’s recommendation), no public speaking will be permitted at the following Committee where the final decision will be made. (members of the public will still have the opportunity to make verbal representations at the site inspection).

 i. In the case of the submission of petitions, the right to speak will only be granted if it is clear that there is a head petitioner. Usually this will require the submission of an accompanying letter so there is clearly an individual to contact to offer the opportunity of public speaking to.

 j. No statement will exceed three minutes, at the conclusion of their statement the speaker shall return to the public gallery immediately. Speakers will not be permitted to table any information or present photographs during the course of the meeting (they will be advised of how to send additional information to Members of the Committee before the meeting is held).

 k. Members may not ask questions of, or enter into debate with the speaker during the course of the meeting (members of the public will receive an advice note to ensure that they are aware of how best to use their time and how to ensure Members have a clear picture of the situation).

 l. A member of the public will be given priority to speak on one application only. Should they wish to speak on more than one application they will be placed on a reserve list until such time as the deadline for requests has passed. Provided no other members of the public have indicated a wish to speak they may take the slot.

 m. Speakers will not be permitted to ask questions of or criticise Members or officers of the Council whilst making their speech (the advice leaflet will contain a reference to the laws of slander to ensure speakers are aware that they must not make inappropriate statements about any particular individual).

Registering to speak

2. Those that have made written representations on a planning application will have the right to make a speech at Planning Committee, in addition, the applicant/agent will have the opportunity to speak in accordance with the notes above.

 3. In order to have a right to speak, those making written representations must have done so by noon on the Friday before the agenda is despatched. Invitations will be mailed to those that have made representations by no later than 5:00pm on the Tuesday, one week prior to the Committee meeting.

 4. On receipt of that letter, those wishing to speak must telephone the Committee Clerk and register their request by no later than noon on the Monday before the Planning Committee. Once the closing date and time for registering a wish to speak has passed, no additions will be permitted to the list of speakers.

 5. On the evening of the meeting, speakers who have registered must report to the Committee Clerk no later than 6:40pm in the Committee Room. A designated seating area will be provided for those wishing to speak and the Clerk will provide the speakers with a final explanation of procedure and will answer any questions they may have at 6:45pm (a full explanation of procedure will be provided to assist members of the public in advance of the meeting).

The conduct of the Planning Meetings

6. Public speaking will be limited to the schedule of Planning Applications only and resultant site inspections.

 7. The meeting will commence with site inspections from the previous meeting. Members of the public, Parish/Town Council will speak first (only if site inspection arose from officer recommendation), the Ward Councillor (if present) and then debate will take place as usual. This will continue until all of the site inspections have been considered.

 8. Members will be provided with Members’ notes (similar to those used at meetings of the full Council) to illustrate who will be speaking on site inspections and which schedule items have been reserved for public speaking.

 9. Before the schedule is considered, Chairman will ask Members to strike through the applications which have been reserved for public speaking in their agenda (for clarity).

 10. The Committee will take all of the items on the schedule which have been reserved for public speaking first.

 11. Reserved items (for public speaking) will be taken in order, unless the Committee agrees otherwise and speakers will be invited to make their statements in turn.

 12. The order of speaking for both site inspections and schedule items will be as follows:

 i. Applicant/Agent/ those in favour;

 ii. Objectors

 iii. Town Parish Council (if appropriate); and

 iv. Ward Councillor(s) – Council Procedure Rule 20(1)

 13. Speakers can read from prepared statements, but cannot distribute or display material. Once the speaker has concluded their statement (or the bell has rung) they will be asked to return to the public gallery. Members may not ask questions of, or enter into debate with the speaker during the course of the meeting.

 14. Any Members attending the Committee meeting under Council Procedure Rule 20(1) will be invited to speak when the public speaking, if any, has concluded. The Committee will then debate the application based on the seconded proposal in the usual way.

 15. The Committee will only consider the application on planning grounds and will not take into consideration non-planning issues. Members of the public can seek advice from the Planning Department on what is considered a planning ground, this will prevent confusion and will assist them in making best use of their three minute time slot.

 16. The Chairman will have the discretion to halt the public should they begin to stray from planning grounds or make inappropriate or offensive statements

 17. Once this process is complete, public speaking has concluded for the meeting.

 18. The Chairman will then refer the Committee back to the schedule to run through the remainder of the schedule items (if any). He will call upon the Planning Officer to read through those items remaining on the schedule and if a Member wishes to reserve an item they should call out as he reads (usual practice). If all of the applications on the schedule were reserved for public speaking the Chairman will move on to the next item which is usually Enforcement of Planning Control and the remainder of the agenda will be take