Devon County Council (DCC) is collecting and or processing your personal data as a Data Controller under Data Protection Legislation and our ICO registration number is Z6475582.
This privacy notice concerns the processing of personal data that takes place by the Planning Service to provide planning advice, process planning applications and any subsequent appeals, and investigate potential breaches of planning control.
This notice explains what information we collect, why we collect it and how we keep it secure. It also explains your rights and our legal obligation. Should you wish to find out more about Devon County Council’s data protection policies please contact our Data Protection Officer.
We will notify you of any changes to this privacy notice
This privacy notice was last updated on 1 April 2026. If we use your personal data for any new purposes, updates will be made to the policy information and changes communicated, where necessary in accordance with current data protection legislation. Any queries relating to this privacy notice please contact the Data Protection Officer.
What information are we processing?
We may collect, store or otherwise process information about you which may include:
- Name
- Address
- Email address
- Phone number
- Signatures
- Special Category Data (for example, comments that include information about health conditions)
- Financial information to collect payments
- Identifying information of third parties (for example, planning agents who submit an application on your behalf)
We usually obtain an applicant’s information in two ways – it is 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 with this information via email, letter and the online register via the Council’s website.
Purpose of collecting or processing your personal data
DCC may need to collect or otherwise process your personal data personal data so that we can make decisions about the use of land in the public interest, this includes:
- processing your planning application, including its registration and determination;
- considering your comments in the determination of a planning application;
- communicating with you and/or providing advice on planning matters;
- enforcing planning control; and
- processing any subsequent planning appeals that may be lodged.
The provision of your personal data in your planning application is a statutory requirement which forms part of the Statutory Register that will be made available to the public, as set out by the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended) and the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015. If you have submitted a planning application, 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.
When commenting on a planning application, personal data is important for transparency and for officers to understand where identified issues will be experienced and/or features located. The County Council will not accept anonymous representations.
Your information will be used for planning related reasons including but not limited to:
- further publicity about the application;
- to advise you if the application is being heard at a committee;
- discuss any reports of a potential breach of planning control;
- your comments will be included within the committee or officer’s report (either verbatim or in essence); and
- to advise you of any amended proposals or if an appeal is lodged.
Please note that failure to provide your personal data will prevent the County Council being able to process your planning application or report of breach of planning control or may make it difficult for us to take account of your representation.
The legal basis for us collecting your personal data
Where we are collecting personal data about you for the provision of one of the purposes outlined in this privacy notice, we rely upon:
- Article 6(1)(c) – processing that is necessary for DCC to fulfil a statutory obligation, for example, as a local planning authority determining planning applications under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended) in accordance with the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015.
- Article 6(1)(e) – processing for the purposes of delivering a public task carried out in the public interest, for example, when considering enforcement action under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended).
Personal data that is collected for any of the purposes outlined in this notice is never used for direct marketing purposes and is not sold on to any other third parties.
Who will we share your personal data with?
All documentation and personal data submitted with a planning application or pre-application enquiry will be stored securely within the Council’s planning database, available to Climate Change, Environment and Transport staff.
To enable planning applications to be considered in a transparent and open manner, we will publish the following on the County Council’s website:
| Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Planning application documents | This includes the application form, supporting drawings, reports and correspondence. Names and addresses of applicants, agent, landowners and authors of other documents will be published online, shared on advertisements and any other document where required. All other personal data (including email addresses, phone numbers, signatures) will be redacted. |
| Comments received from members of the public on planning applications | On receipt, our support team will check all comments for sensitive information or information which identifies an individual. Any personal data or comments made that identifies an individual will be redacted before being published online. The process of checking the content of comments means your comments will not appear on the website immediately but will appear up to a few days after submission. |
| Comments received from statutory consultees or organisations | These responses will be published online with only direct email addresses, direct phone numbers and signatures redacted. |
In the event of an appeal being lodged in connection to any planning application, all application information, public comments and representations will be provided to the Planning Inspectorate and Appellant. Information will be supplied as it appears on the County Council’s website (with redactions of the above personal information). The Planning Inspectorate may request unredacted copies from the County Council as part of their consideration of any appeals and these will be provided upon request and may be shared by the Planning Inspectorate with the Appellant. The Planning Inspectorate’s privacy notice can be found here: Customer Privacy Notice – GOV.UK.
Enforcement investigations are not publicly available and are treated confidentially. Any personal information relating to the notifier of an alleged breach will not be disclosed or shared publicly.During the course of our investigations, the County Council may share some personal data so that we can support third party organisations to discharge their statutory or regulatory requirements. This includes organisations such as the Environment Agency, the Police and Devon’s district councils where it is lawful to do so. If an investigation progresses to the issuing of a notice that is held on the public register, then the notice becomes public, which could include names and addresses.
The County Council may also share information with other services within the County Council or those providing external services in relation to investigations or applications. We may also share information to enable us to comply with court orders and other legal obligations. If this is necessary, we will only share the minimum amount of personal data needed for this purpose to comply with data protection legislation.
No personal data is transferred outside of the European Union and we will not use your personal data for automated decision making.
How long will we hold your personal data?
The Planning Service’s retention schedule can be found here.
All public comments received in relation to planning applications will be deleted from the County Council’s online planning register following determination of the related planning application or appeal. Public comments will be retained on the Council’s planning system for a maximum of 12 months following determination of a planning application to allow for any subsequent appeal or legal challenge. All personal data will then be deleted.
Information obtained through pre-application advice and enforcement investigations form part of the history of the site and, as such, will be retained.
Your data protection rights
Under Data Protection Legislation, you have the right to request a copy of your personal records that are held by us, this is called a Subject Access Request (SAR).
Details of how to make a request can be found here.
Further details on your rights under data protection legislation and how to exercise them.
Complaints
If you have any comments, queries or complaints about this privacy notice or the processing of your personal data please contact our Data Protection Officer.
Alternatively, if you are not happy with the way that DCC is handling your personal data, you are entitled to appeal to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO). The Information Commissioners Office enforces and oversees the Data Protection Regulations.
Contact details are below:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Further information can be found on the ICO’s website here: Make a complaint about how an organisation has used your personal information | ICO