This privacy notice explains what personal information, the council will collect from you during the Local Plan review process.

To ensure the council has an up-to-date Local Plan, it is necessary for the council to collect, store and process personal data throughout the consultations, which will take place as part of the “Local plan Review”. This ensures that a diverse range of views and evidence are considered in developing the planning policies. It also enables us to identify unique respondents and notify you about future public consultations linked to the Local Plan.

This notice should be read alongside the council’s main privacy notice.

Safeguards are in place to ensure that this data is kept secure, and the privacy of individuals is protected in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK General Data Protection Regulations (UK GDPR).

How we collect your information

We collect information about you from the following sources, including (but not limited to):

• public consultations: individuals and stakeholders will provide personal information when submitting feedback or comments during public consultations through emails, online forms or through lettered submissions (paper based / physical format)
• registration systems: when individuals or stakeholders will register their attendance to a public consultation and will provide their contact details to participate
• survey, feedback, and questionnaires: to gather public opinions and views on a particular document or topic. These forms will typically request personal data such as contact details to arrange further consultation or notification of the collated data.
• written representations: individuals and organisations can submit written representations or comments on the Local Plan, which may include the personal information required to respond to the contributor
• meetings, drop-in sessions and workshops: personal information is collected during the organised event, such as focus groups where attendees provide their details for follow-up and their feedback (opinions), for example, in an RSVP leaflet 

How we store your information

Your personal data will be treated with the utmost confidentiality. We have a data protection regime in place to ensure the secure processing of your personal information and using appropriate technical safeguards to keep your information secure.

How long we keep your information

We will only keep your information for as long as it is required by us or other regulatory bodies to comply with legal and regulatory requirements or for other operational reasons. In most cases, this will be for a minimum of six years.

Categories of personal data and lawful basis

Personal data

To provide this service, we may need to process some or all of the following categories of personal information:

• contact name
• contact information such as email address, phone numbers and postal address
• demographic Information such as age and location may be collected
• opinions and comments submitted by individuals or organisations regarding the Local Plan which may include personal views and suggestions on specific sites which are not within the respondent’s ownership
• any other relevant information provided
• signatures
• status: this is information about whether respondents are residents, business owners or representatives of organisations
• information gathered for equalities monitoring purposes (the information is not linked to a response and helps us to improve and develop our services, identify barriers to access and target services, to ensure everyone gets fair and equal access)

Legislation

Key pieces of legislation that create a legal obligation or statutory duty for us to process your information are listed below. Please note this list is not exhaustive.

• Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 – Section 17 – Local Authority to consult with the public and stakeholders during the plan preparation

The council has a statutory obligation to process your data in relation to planning representations under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and the Town and Country Planning (Planning Policy Procedure) (England) Order 2015. 

Who we share your personal data with

We may share your data with third party approved service providers (data processors) to assist the council in processing the consultation responses and are required legally to keep your information secure and use it only for the purpose we specify.

Further information

Please get in touch if you would like more information about how the council processes your personal data:

• contact the council's data protection officer