Attending meetings
Planning Committees are held in public and you are welcome to attend and observe the meeting.
These are not public meetings and only the committee will debate and come to a decision on each item.
Meeting dates and start times are on the calendar.
The majority of meetings are held in the Town Hall. You do not have to arrive at the start and you can leave when the item you are interested in has concluded.
On rare occasions the meeting will agree to consider an item in private and if this is the case you will be asked to leave. This happens infrequently and within very limited circumstances that you will see on the agenda and listed in our constitution.
Asking questions, making comments or speaking
You can speak to the committee in support of an application, against it, or to request changes or conditions.
Those wishing to speak must register with the Committee Services Officer by noon on the working day before the meeting*, giving their name, the application/agenda item they wish to speak on, and whether they are objecting to or supporting the application.
Those objecting to the application may speak for up to five minutes in total. Those in support may speak for the same length of time.
You can register to speak:
- online from the agenda webpage
- by email to democraticservices@oxford.gov.uk
- by telephone using the contact details on the committee agenda
* For the avoidance of doubt 'noon on the working day before the meeting' means 12 noon on Monday for a Tuesday meeting; 12 noon on a Tuesday for a Wednesday meeting.
Written statements from the public
Any written statements that members of the public and councillors wish to be considered must be sent to the planning officer by noon two working days before the day of the meeting. The planning officer will report these at the meeting.
Material received at the meeting will not be accepted or circulated, as Councillors are unable to give proper consideration to the new information and officers may not be able to check for accuracy or provide considered advice on any material consideration arising. Any such material will not be displayed or shown at the meeting.
Meeting agenda
All agendas are available on our website.
These are published five working days before the meeting.
Exceptionally a particularly urgent item may be added after the agenda is published. If this happens, it will be published on the website as soon as possible.
Upcoming agenda items
You can register for alerts for committees. Our website includes details of planning applications.
The agenda lists all the business of the committee and includes forthcoming items. This is not an exhaustive list. If you require more detail about an application please contact our Planning team.
Recording meetings
You can record meetings using your own equipment. We have a filming and recording protocol which we ask you to follow to minimise disruption to the meeting.
If you want to record audio or video, please talk to the clerk before the meeting starts.
