Planning Privacy Notice - Your Data

The reasons we use your data

This privacy notice explains how West Lindsey District Council (WLDC) uses information in the course of our work as a local planning authority. This work includes:

• making decisions and providing advice on applications for development under the Planning Acts
• the making of Tree Preservation Orders, and applications for consent to protected trees
• the conservation of heritage assets (such as listed buildings, conservation areas and scheduled monuments) under the Listed Building Act
• to keep a register of self-build and custom housing and facilitate opportunities on the register
• making planning policies
• planning appeals
• community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and s106 Agreements and databases
• neighbourhood planning, including regulation 16 submission consultations and publicising responses
• sharing the neighbourhood plans consultee database with parish and town councils for undertaking their regulation 14 neighbourhood plan consultations only
• working with neighbouring authorities on strategic policies
• responding to allegations of unlawful development
• monitoring development, and databases that contain site information and site owners
• entering legal agreements, serving notices and promoting the best use of land

If you have questions about data or privacy contact our data protection officer via our Customer Services team.

Why we are allowed to use your data

Legal obligations or public task under various UK laws including but not limited to:

• statutory legislation (including the Town & Country Planning Act 1990 and Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas act 1990)
• consent – Self Build register

How do we collect your data

We get information in different ways – for planning applications it is most commonly supplied to us directly (or via a planning agent on their behalf) or we receive it from a third party website that provides a transaction service, such as The Planning Portal.

We also receive comments, representations, allegations and questions via email, letter, and through our website. This information may also be used and provided to the Secretary of State in any subsequent planning appeal.

Finally, information may be submitted to the council for other planning purposes, such as site registers that will contain the details of a site owner or their agent, or from individuals or agents that wish to register their interest in available sites or land (such as the Self and Custom Build Register).

Who can we share your data with

We will not sell your information to other organisations or move your information beyond the UK. We do not use your information for automated decision making.

We will make details of planning applications available online so that people can contribute their comments. We will sometimes need to share the information we have with other parts of the council – for example to establish how long a building has been used as a dwelling.

We undertake customer satisfaction surveys to understand how well it is delivering its services and may use your details to contact you in relation to this work.

Redaction (blanking things out)

We routinely redact the following details before making forms and documents available online:

• personal contact details – such as telephone numbers, email addresses.
• signatures
• Special Category Data – such as supporting statements that include information about health conditions or ethnic origin
• information agreed to be confidential
• information on the location of protected species, such as badgers

Please note that comments on planning applications cannot be treated as confidential therefore names and addresses will be published on our website.

Sometimes we might decide it is necessary, justified and lawful to disclose data that appears in the list above. In these circumstances we would let you know of our intention before anything is published.

If you are submitting supporting information which you would like to be treated confidentially or wish to be specifically withheld from the public planning register, please let us know in advance of submitting the application or make this clearly visible in your comments (ideally at the start, in bold). The best way to contact us about this issue is planning.customercare@west-lindsey.gov.uk.

How long do we store your data

We process many different types of information according to our retention policy. A brief summary of long we keep things before they are destroyed:

• statutory registers (eg planning decisions, approved plans, legal agreements) – permanently
• supporting documents, reports – permanently
• representations, letters, general correspondence – 4 years

When computers make any decisions about you

Not applicable

When your data gets sent to other countries

Not applicable

How to get independent advice

If you have any worries or questions about how your personal information is handled please contact our Data Protection Officer at dpo@west-lindsey.gov.uk or by calling 01427 676676.

For independent advice about data protection, privacy and information sharing issues, or if you are still dissatisfied with how the council have handled a complaint about use of your information, you can write to the Information Commissioner’s Office at the following address:

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

or email: casework@ico.org.uk