Put simply, planning permission is often required before various forms of construction, expansion, demolition and tree clearance can commence. The process begins with an application being submitted to the Local Planning Authority (LPA) that, here in the South Hams, is South Hams District Council.

It is the LPA who decide whether a development should go ahead. However, as a resident, you have a legal right to be involved in the way most local planning decisions are made, and the LPA must take note of your views.

The planning system is one of the key ways to implement a vision for sustainable development by ensuring, for example, that new growth helps reduce climate change emissions through renewable technology, energy efficiency and reducing the need to travel. It is essential that your voice, along with the voice of our community, is heard just as loudly and vociferously as the voice of the development industry.

Quite simply, if you want to be involved in the future of the South Hams community, ensure the best kind of developments happen and the worst ones do not, you have to be involved in the planning process.

You can find out more about what is involved in the Planning Process here, How to Object here, Material Considerations (what they are and why they matter) here, we offer some Campaigning Tips here, and discover some of the more recent of Our Objections that we have submitted here.