Trees section privacy statement

Why we collect information about you?

Planning and Development Management is a statutory function Cheltenham Borough Council provides in exercise of its powers and duties under the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015 and Town and County Planning (Tree Preservation (England)) Regulations 2012. We collect your information to process your application to:
Apply to undertake works to a TPO’d tree, or notification of works to trees within a Conservation Area
Request for a TPO to be placed on trees
Submit an appeal regarding your planning decision
General enquiries regarding tree works
Account registration on Public Access (to submit comments on planning applications and/or to follow developments on a planning application)
Submission for permit to work register (Contractor/Tree Specialist)
For information regarding how we handle your personal information for letters of representation on a planning application please refer to the letters of representation privacy statement

What information do we collect about you?

To allow us to make decisions on applications individuals must provide us with some personal data:
- Name
- Postal and email address
- Contact telephone number

Who do we share the information with?

We use the information provided to us to make decision about the use of land in the public interest. This is known as a “public task” and is why we do not need you to “opt in” to allow your information to be used.
Some information provided to us we are obliged under the regulations to make available on the planning registers. This is a permanent record of our planning decisions that form part of the planning history of a site, along with other facts that form part of the “land search”.
We will make details of tree applications available online so that people can contribute their comments. Your name (registered applicant) and site address (which could be your home address) are available to view:
- On our website (Public Access)
- At Cheltenham Borough Council offices.
Planning Committee – your name (registered applicant) and site address are shown as part of the application details.This is included on the committee agenda and minutes and is issued to members (via email and Modern.Gov) and available to the public via our website
Appeals
- If you have submitted an appeal your application and full set of documents will be requested by the Planning Inspectorate
- Your name (the appellant) and site address will be included in the neighbour consultation letter
We will sometimes need to share the information we have with other parts of the council, for example Building Control, to establish technical advice.
Certain applications may require us to forward contact details to a Contractor to enable access to be arranged.

Is any information transferred to or stored on servers based outside the European Economic Area?

How long do we keep your information?

Redaction (blanking things out)
- We operate a policy where we routinely redact the following details before making forms and documents available online:
  - Personal contact details for the applicant, eg. telephone numbers and email addresses
  - Signatures
  - Special Category Data, eg. supporting statements that include information about health conditions
  - Information agreed to be confidential
- Sometimes we might decide it is necessary, justified and lawful to disclose data that appears in the list above. In these circumstances we will let you know of our intention before we publish anything.
- If you are submitting supporting information which you would like to be treated confidentially or wish to be specifically withheld from the public register, please let us know as soon as possible (ideally in advance of submitting your application).
Retention (how long do we keep your information)
- Applications
  - Statutory Register – decisions, approved plans, legal agreements are kept as a permeant record.
  - Supporting Documents – arboricultural reports, photographic evidence – 6 years + 1 (7 years)
  - Personal Information - telephone numbers and email addresses) will be removed from applications 7 months after the Decision. The applicant name and site address, which could be the home address, will be kept as part of the application details as required by the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015 and Town and County Planning (Tree Preservation (England)) Regulations 2012 as a permanent record.
- General enquires (not resulting in a pending application) – your initial enquiry and contact information will be kept for 3 months. It will then be either destroyed or deleted.
- Public Access account – your details will be stored on our server for the duration of your registration to the service. Once you cancel an account it will be automatically deleted. Please refer to our Public Access homepage for further information and advice on how to manage your account.

Who do we collect from?

We get applicant 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. These include:
- https://www.planningportal.co.uk/
- https://iapply.co.uk/
If you have submitted your application online further information regarding their obligations under GDPR is available on their websites
We also receive comments, representations, allegations and questions via email, letter and through our online platform Public Access from members of the public.

What are the consequences if we do not collect the data?

The council will be unable fulfil its obligations under the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015 and Town and County Planning (Tree Preservation (England)) Regulations 2012 so will not accept or process your application.

Are any decisions about you made by automatic means?

If you have questions about your data or privacy contact our data protection officer [email protected] or 01684 272011.