Who is collecting and using your personal data?

Devon County Council will act as a ‘data controller’ and ‘data processor’ for any personal data that you provide to us in connection with your planning application. As such, we will ensure that the data you give us is processed in line with our organisation’s data protection policies and in line with your rights under the EU General Data Protection Regulation and associated data protection laws currently applicable in the UK.

Should you wish to find out more about Devon County Council’s data protection policies please contact our Data Protection Officer at accesstoinformation@devon.gov.uk or 01392 383000.

Please note that failure to provide your personal data will prevent the County Council being able to process your planning application.

Why are we collecting your personal data?

We are collecting your personal data for the purpose of processing your planning application, including its registration and determination, together with any subsequent appeal. The planning application will be included on the public register that is available to the public, and also held on the County Council’s planning system that is limited to use by the Council’s officers.

We will use your information to contact you and/or your agent prior to and following determination of the planning application and any subsequent appeal.

While your name and address (and that of any agent that you may use) will be retained in the documents that are available in the online planning register, any signatures, email addresses and telephone numbers will be omitted.

Any sensitive personal data, such as medical information, that you may provide in connection with a planning application will be rejected and omitted from any documents included in the planning register, and we will be unable to take such information into account in consideration of the application.

We rely upon the following laws to process your personal data:

Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985.
Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended).
Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015.

Who will we share your personal data with?

Your information will be stored securely within the Council’s planning system, and any information that is omitted from public viewing will not be accessible to other services within the Council.

To enable your planning application to be considered in a transparent and open manner, we will publish the application (including supporting drawings, reports and correspondence) on the County Council’s website. The information in the application (excluding any omitted personal details) may also be shared with statutory consultees such as the Environment Agency, Natural England, and district and town/parish councils. In the event of you submitting an appeal in connection with your planning application, your application information (excluding any redacted personal details) will be provided to The Planning Inspectorate.

How long will we hold your personal data?

We will retain your personal data indefinitely in accordance with the requirements of planning legislation.

All planning applications are held on a public register and will not be deleted as they may be used for monitoring implementation of permissions and conditions and considering permitted development rights.

Exercising your rights

Under the Data Protection Act 2018 and the EU General Data Protection Regulation you have the following rights:

The right of access to your own personal data.
The right to request rectification or deletion of your personal data.
The right to object to the processing of your personal data.
The right to request a copy of the information you provide us in machine readable format.
The right to withdraw your consent to any processing that is solely reliant upon your consent

Should you wish to exercise any of your rights, you should contact the Data Protection Officer, accesstoinformation@devon.gov.uk or 01392 383000.

Your right to complain

If you wish to complain about the way that your personal data has been handled by Devon County Council, you should write to the Data Protection Officer and clearly outline your case. Your complaint will then be investigated in accordance with the Council’s customer feedback procedure. If you remain dissatisfied with the way your personal data has been handled, you may refer the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office whose contact details are below:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Email:casework@ico.org.uk