Saving searches

You can save searches for planning information that you need to repeat. When you save a search in the Planning Public Access search tool you will be given the opportunity to have any updates to the applications in your search results sent to you by email. These emails are sent daily however you may not receive an update email every day. This is because no changes have been made to the applications you have saved the search for.

The most popular saved searches are for new applications received or decided. Alternatively, you may only be interested in applications in a particular ward or post code area or that are for a particular type of work.

Daily emails of applications received

Follow the steps below to be emailed details of all new applications received on the day they are received:

• Go into the Planning Public Access search tool and log in to your user account
• From the 'Search' menu, select 'Advanced'
• In the 'Date Validated' field, enter a date in the past and 'Search'
• If 'no results are found', then search again using an older date
• When you have at least one result to your search, select the 'Save Search' button
• Change the search title to something sensible that describes what you have searched for
• Select the 'Yes' radio button for the 'Notify me via email about new search results' option then 'Save'
• Your search will be listed in your 'Saved Searches'.

You will be emailed each evening an application has been validated (usually around 6pm) with a quick link to the application details and documents online.

Daily emails of applications decided

Follow the steps above for applications received but use the 'Decision Date 'field and not the 'Date Validated' field.

Refining the information you are notified about

Receiving everything that has been validated or decided may be more information than you really need, so use the Applications Details on the Advanced Search tab to refine what you do need.

For example you may want only the information in a particular 'Ward', 'Development Type' or by a specific 'Agent'. Select the drop down boxes beside these options and don't forget to add dates for validation or decision before you select Search and Save Search.

You can also search on keywords within an application description such as 'Extension' or 'Window' and so on or an address for just a particular street. Remember that only exact matches will be found.

You can use a combination of some or all of the shown fields.

Remember that you can only save a search that has results to you may have to adjust the date fields or other fields to find applications that meet your criteria.

Managing saved searches

To view the searches you have saved or remove saved searches from your user account:

• Go into the Planning Public Access search tool and log in to your user account
• Select 'My Profile' from the menu bar
• Select the 'Saved Searches' tab
• Your saved searches will be detailed in a list
• You can sort the list by clicking on the column headings
• To perform a saved search now, click on the 'Run' button for that search
• To modify the criteria of a search, click on the 'Edit' button for that search
• To remove a search from the list, click on the 'Delete' button for that search.