With all the new development and building taking place in the town, the Council's planners want to make it as easy as possible to find out as much information about planning rules, regulations and proposed new developments.
If you are extending your home, want to know about your neighbour's plans to extend theirs, or are just interested in plans for new housing, bars and restaurants in the town, you can see them all through a link on the Council's website which will take you to Planning UK, a national site.
Under the planning homepage, you can check out current plans, find out how to submit your own planning application - or if you actually need one. You can comment on, or object to, plans in your local area online at the press of a button and it will be registered with the planning team. All applications are open to comment for three weeks after they are registered.
There's also information on tree preservation orders and who to contact for advice about anything from boundary disputes to windows. You will find backdated copies of Planning News with stories about works that have been carried out to landmarks. These include the net huts and work TV Programme Home Front carried out to a Clive Vale home (pictured above). The planning links page will take you to other planning related sites that will be of interest if you are moving home, or extending, altering or restoring your property.
From October you will also be able to submit planning applications electronically via the website, saving time and paper, and you will soon be able to view an interactive version of the local plan, showing the policies for development throughout the town.
There's also a new planning handbook for people who can't access the website. It focuses on our four key Planning Services:
The handbook aims to provide general and simple advice on how each section works. It also includes a street map and useful statistics about the town.
Councillor David Hancock, Chair of the Planning Board, said: "Our move to make all the plans available on the website is a step ahead of most councils. Planning issues affect most of us at one time or another and we want to make it easy for residents to access them and find out more at a time that suits them most. Not only can people make comments themselves on line, they can also see other people's comments and objections.
"At a time when so much is happening in the town, we as a Planning Board, have a responsibility to make decisions about how the town is developed. By providing people with easy access to information, and helping them understand what we require from new developments, I'm sure that the quality of architecture in the town, will continue to be of the highest standards."
Copies of the Handbook are available free of charge from either the Information Centre or our offices at Century House. A copy is usually sent out to members of the public with planning application forms etc.
You can visit the planning section of the Council's website at www.hastings.gov.uk/planning
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This page last updated: 02/10/2003