Planning

Hartlepool Borough Council is required to consult the Parish Council on any planning applications that fall within the parish boundary. These are discussed at the Parish Council's monthly meetings. Residents are always welcome to come along and give their views and comments on these applications during the public participation item and before councillors make their recommendations on each individual application.

All planning applications can be accessed on the Hartlepool Borough Council Planning Portal. 

The response of the Parish Council to any planning applications, is always published on the Planning Portal.

The Rural Plan

The Localism Act of 2011 introduced Neighbourhood Planning into the national planning system, giving communities the opportunity to shape how their area is developed in the future.

From the outset, Hart Parish Council has been actively involved in the Hartlepool Plan Working Group which has spent the last 6 years consulting our rural communities and developing the Neighbourhood Plan for the Rural Hinterland of Hartlepool - know to us all (more sensibly) as the Rural Plan! 

The Rural Plan gives clear information on what will be acceptable in the way of development within the rural area over the next 15 years. It contains a number of policies, covering housing, the rural economy, transport & movement, community, natural environment, built environment and heritage & conservation.

Hartlepool Borough Council has accepted that the Rural Plan meets all necessary conditions. The Plan has been through an Independent Examination and has now been through a Referendum where it was overwhelmingly supported by residents, so the Rural Plan is now MADE - the official term for its becoming official!

The Rural Plan is now part of Hartlepool's Local Plan and developers, Planning Officers and HBC's own Planning Committee, will have to take its content into consideration when looking at future development within the rural area. 

To see the full Rural Plan click here.