Planning Policy and Specialist Services Privacy Notice

1. Council contact details

1.1. West Northamptonshire Council

Registered Office:
One Angel Square
Angel Street
Northampton, NN1 1ED

Contact centre telephone: 0300 126 7000

The Data Controller is West Northamptonshire Council

ICO registration number: ZA896620

The Planning Policy and Specialist Services Team can be contacted by email at the following email addresses:

1.2. This privacy notice sets out the information for the Council’s Planning Policy and Specialist Services Team which covers:

The Planning Policy and Specialist Services Team is responsible for preparing land use planning policies, strategies, and guidance to guide future development proposals within West Northamptonshire. The preparation of planning policy documents is an ongoing process. The overall aim is to secure an appropriate balance between enabling development whilst seeking to conserve, protect and where possible, enhance the local environment. The Planning Policy and Specialist Services Team is also responsible for working alongside parish councils preparing Neighbourhood Plans for their area.

The team provides advice on planning applications and applications for Listed Building Consent, pre-application advice and advice as part of Planning Performance Agreements. The team is also responsible for carrying out Conservation Area Appraisals, collating the Local Heritage List of buildings and structures of interest, reviewing design codes, working with NatureSpace on the authorising of licences for Great Crested Newts, making delegated decisions on applications for works to trees covered by Tree Preservation Orders and considering notifications proposing works to trees in Conservation Areas and emergency works to trees.

2. Information that we hold

2.1. Information about the types of data we collect to deliver this service.

The personal and special category data we collect varies according to the purpose of the contact. Applications for our services are not restricted to people living or working in Northamptonshire. Anyone is entitled to contact the Council about our service. The information we hold may include:

names, addresses and contact details (telephone numbers and email addresses) of applicants, agents, representatives, public contributors, complainants and enquirers and persons wishing to be consulted on policy documents
property or site details
land ownership details

3. How and why your information is collected and used

3.1. How we collect this personal information.

Most of the personal information we process is provided to us directly by you or representative in the following ways:

as part of an application
by contributing to applications and consultations
when making an enquiry, request or complaint
when commenting on Local Plans, Neighbourhood Plans, Supplementary Planning Documents and other planning policy documents
when commenting on conservation area designations and appraisals, local listings and Article 4 Directions
in relation to the designation of Tree Preservation Orders
when registering an interest in the Self and Custom Build Housing Register
when requesting an addition to the Brownfield Register
when requesting regular communications and updates
when providing information for evidence base documents

We also receive personal information indirectly, from the following sources in the following scenarios:

Land Registry enquiries, to identify landowners, investigate allegations and serve notices
special category information such as political opinions, race or ethnic origin, religion or beliefs can be implicated within an application but not explicitly requested by the council, for example, a representative of a religious organisation submitting a planning application.

3.2. Why we collect your information.

There are a number of reasons why we need to collect and use your personal information.

Much of what we do in Planning Policy and Specialist Services is governed by legislation, set nationally, which requires us to provide various services across West Northamptonshire. We process personal data to deliver public tasks outlined in the follow pieces of legislation:

Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979
Anti Social Behaviour Act 2003
Anti Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014
Electronic Communications Regulations
Environment Act 1995
Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations 2017
Environmental Information Regulations 2004
Housing Act 1996
Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014
Localism Act 2011
Neighbourhood Planning Act 2017
Planning (Hazardous Substances) Act 1990
Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984
Self Build and Custom Housebuilding Act 2015
Town and Country Planning Act 1990
The Town & Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015
The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015 (as amended)
The Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 (as amended)

The information we collect, and store is also used to provide an auditable record of service delivery and enables us to contact people initiating reports/issues to request further information or provide updates.

Whenever we collect information, we always limit this to only the details that are needed. We ensure that data is used and stored safely and securely. We require anyone we share information with, or who uses it on our behalf, to do so too. All Planning Policy and Specialist Services staff have received training on data protection and information security.

3.3 Lawful processing

We rely on the following lawful reasons to process your person data in the Property Response Service

UK GDPR Article 6

c. processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject; specifically ‘The Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012’

4. What we do with the information

4.1 How we use your personal information.

We use the information that you have given us in order to:

inform you about your opportunities to engage with the preparation of Local Plans, Neighbourhood Plans, conservation area appraisals and other heritage and ecological appraisals and workstreams, Supplementary Planning Documents and other planning policy documents and housing needs surveys
collect information needed to inform the preparation and monitoring of such plans and policy documents
keep you informed on progress of Local Plans, Neighbourhood Plans, Supplementary Planning Documents and other planning policy documents
enable the Council to fulfil its regulatory requirements in the preparation of the statutory development plan for the area

The information will only be used for the purposes stated when it was collected. Information will not be sold, rented or provided to anyone else, or used for any other purpose than that for which it was originally collected unless required to by law.

4.2. Who we share your information with.

Information may be shared in the following circumstances:

Shared internally with other Council services in order to ensure our records are accurate and up-to-date, and to improve the standard of the services we deliver
Shared externally with the Planning Inspectorate, where the development plan document is being subject to independent examination by them
Shared externally with Neighbourhood Plan Qualifying Bodies and Independent Neighbourhood Plan Examiners
Share with consultants undertaking work on behalf of the Council

Names and location addresses of contributors to planning policy consultations are made public and open to public inspection, exact addresses and contact information are withheld.

Important: Applications and comments are checked for sensitive information before publication however we strongly recommend that you indicate documents in whole, or in part which contain personal information you do not wish to be made public.

We have a legal duty to make certain information available and cannot guarantee all such requests will be approved. Please do not provide information such as health or medical information where it is not required.

Please also refrain from including personal information or comments about other people unless they have given their consent for you to do so and you can provide evidence of their consent.

When we publish information in public, we will follow procedures that we have in place to remove personal data associated with the record wherever possible.

We will share personal information with law enforcement agencies or other authorities only if required by applicable law and in accordance with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

4.3 Automated Decision making

We do not use automated decision making for this processing. Automated decision-making is where decisions are made about you without any human influence on the outcome. These may affect your legal rights or have an impact on your circumstances, behaviour or choices.

The Council may use CoPilot to assist it collate and summarise consultation responses as part of the planning policy consultations.

4.4 Data Profiling

There is no profiling undertaken in relation to this processing. Profiling is where you analyse parts of an individual’s personality, behaviour, interests and habits to identify their preferences, make predictions or decisions about them.

5. How long we keep your information for and how we securely dispose of it after use

5.1. Information about how your personal data is kept.

We only keep information for as long as it is needed in line with the council’s retention schedule. This will differ according to the type of information we hold and its purpose. It will be based on either a legal requirement (where a law says we have to keep information for a specific period of time), a regulatory requirement or accepted business practice.

5.2 We will securely dispose of your information in line with the Council's Retention Schedules.

6. How we store your information

6.1. Physical (paper) records

All information is securely stored on the council’s systems including physical records which are scanned for retention purposes. We will keep your personal information for the purpose of planning and specialist services matters for as long as regulatory bodies require us to and in line with the council’s retention schedules as set out in 5.2.

6.2 Electronic information

Digital data is securely stored on the council’s computer network or on cloud severs in the UK, EEA and in countries with adequacy or that have a regulator approved Privacy Framework (such as the USA).

7. Your data protection rights

7.1. The law gives you a number of rights to control what personal information is used by us and how we can use it. Please see section 15 of the council’s Privacy Policy for further information.

7.2. Please be aware that your rights may differ depending on the lawful basis for processing your personal data.

8. Who to contact

8.1. If you would like further information about how we use your personal information, or you wish to exercise one of your data rights or you wish to complain about the use of your personal information please contact the Data Protection Officer.

8.2. If you are still dissatisfied with how we have used your data once you have made a complaint through the council’s internal complaints procedure you have the right to complain to the ICO.

The ICO’s address:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

9. Changes to this Service Privacy Notice

9.1 Privacy notices are live documents and will be updated or revised periodically in line with service changes and / or new legislation requirements.

This privacy notice was last updated March 2026

The update reference number is: PNS/26/054/C

Last updated 16 March 2026