Privacy notice for planning

1. Identity of the Data Controller and contact details

Rushmoor Borough Council is the data controller for personal information you provide on application forms and registers, in letters of representation, in responses to consultations, and in relation to general enquiries, complaints and requests to be kept informed about planning matters.  You can contact the Council by phone on 01252 398788, via email at plan@rushmoor.gov.uk (for Development Management) and planningpolicy@rushmoor.gov.uk (for Planning Policy) or by writing to us at Council Offices, Farnborough Road, Farnborough, Hampshire, GU14 7JU.  You can contact the Council’s Data Protection Officer at data.protection@rushmoor.gov.uk.

2. How and why we use your personal information

We require your personal information to process applications and submissions relating to matters handled by the Council in its role as the local planning authority.  This includes considering your representations on applications, complaints, responses to enforcement enquiries, and requests for information and pre-application advice.

We also use your personal data to process your comments on planning policy documents, manage requests to be kept informed about their preparation, administer the Self-Build and Custom Housebuilding Register and conduct activities such as Calls for Sites where necessary.

3. Lawful basis and data protection rights

Under UK Data Protection Law, we must have a ‘lawful basis’ for collecting and using your personal information.

Our lawful bases are:

• Article 6(1)(e) UK GDPR – Public task: processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the Council.  We collect and use your information to carry out duties laid down in law, which are intended to be performed by organisations such as ours.
• Article 6(1)(c) UK GDPR – Legal obligation: processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the Council is subject.

Where special personal data is processed, Article 9(2)(g) (Substantial public interest) applies.

You have rights including:

• Your right of access
• Your right to rectification
• Your right to erasure
• Your right to restriction of processing
• Your right to object to processing
• Your right to data portability
• Your right to withdraw consent

Further details on these rights can be found on our website at www.rushmoor.gov.uk/dataprotection.

4. What information is being collected

It may be necessary for us to collect and store your name and contact details, including your address, email address, telephone number, fax number and organisation details, if relevant.

At times, we may need or ask you to supply other personal information, such as your age or age range, date of birth, nationality, gender and ethnicity.  We may also ask whether you have a health condition or disability, or consider yourself to be part of an under-represented group.

For the purposes of the Self-Build and Custom Housebuilding Register, we may also need or ask you to supply information on family members, including their name and contact details; details about your occupation, employer and place of work; the number of plots being sought; preferred location, project and property type; potential budgets and any other information which is required to process your application to join the Register.

5. Who we may share your information with (including but not limited to)

We may share your information with other Council departments, councillors, where appropriate, and external organisations.  These may include other local authorities and government departments or agencies carrying out public functions, such as Hampshire County Council, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and the Police for the purposes of preventing and detecting crime, including criminal investigations.  Information may be shared with an independent Planning Inspector / examiner to consider the soundness and legal compliance of the Local Plan.

We will NOT use your personal data for marketing products or services.

6. Planning policy consultations

If you choose to make a comment on any consultation associated with the preparation of planning policy documents, your comment, together with your name and your organisation, if relevant, will be published so that members of the public can see it.  It may be published on the Planning Policy pages of our website or within a consultation report that summarises comments or responses to the issues raised.  Signatures, addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers will not be published and will be redacted where necessary.

For certain engagement and consultation activities, the information we request may vary depending on the nature of the exercise.  For some consultations, we may be unable to consider anonymous comments.  All written comments received that include the name and contact details of the respondent(s), where required, will be fully considered.   From time to time we may contact you or your organisation so that we can discuss your views and suggestions further.

We will not acknowledge submitted comments unless requested.  We will not accept or publish any comments that are considered offensive or prejudiced.

7. How long we will retain your information

We will normally keep your details for as long as we are required to do so by law or in accordance with our operational requirements.  For further information on our policy for retaining personal information, please see our retention guidelines.

If you have requested to be informed about the preparation of planning policy documents, we will keep contacting you from time to time unless you ask us not to and unsubscribe from our planning policy consultation database.  Each time we contact you, we will ask if you still wish to remain on the planning policy consultation database.  If you no longer wish to receive information from us, please email us at planningpolicy@rushmoor.gov.uk.

You may request to be removed from the Self-Build and Custom Housebuilding Register at any time by emailing selfbuild@rushmoor.gov.uk or planningpolicy@rushmoor.gov.uk.

8. How to contact us and for more information

If you have any questions about our privacy notice or information we hold about you, please contact the Council’s Data Protection Officer at data.protection@rushmoor.gov.uk.

If you are not happy with the way the Council is handling your personal information, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).  You will find details of how to do so on the ICO’s website at https://www.ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or by phoning their helpline on 0303 123 1113.