Adding planning applications to an agenda

How it works

Planning applications reach an agenda in three steps:

1. Import the application from your planning authority's website into CouncilPapers using our Bookmarklet.
2. Set a purpose for it, saying why it is going on an agenda.
3. Add it to an agenda item - usually a heading such as "Planning Applications" - where it becomes a child item.

Steps 1 and 2 can be done as soon as the Planning Application is rececived. Then the imported-application is ready to be added to the Agenda whenever it is being prepared.

Step 0 - Before you start, install the import bookmarklet (once only)

Applications are imported with a bookmarklet, a small browser bookmark that reads the planning page you are looking at.

1. Go to Planning Imports and click Set Up.
2. Make sure your bookmarks bar is visible (Ctrl+Shift+B in Chrome or Edge, Ctrl+B in Firefox).
3. Drag the blue Import to CouncilPapers button onto the bookmarks bar.

The bookmarklet works best with Idox Public Access planning systems. Other systems may not supply every field.

Step 1 - Import an application

1. Open the application's page on your district or borough council's planning website.
2. Click the Import to CouncilPapers bookmark.
3. Review the details that were extracted and click OK to confirm the import.

The application now appears in the Planning Imports list in CouncilPapers.

Step 2 - Set the purpose

Open the application from the Planning Imports list. In the Purpose panel, choose why it is being imported and click Set Purpose:

Optional Additional Agenda Text lets you add a line that is printed after the application description, for example "Returned to the agenda following amended plans." It appears in bold on the item when you create the agenda.

The Amend Application Details panel lets you correct the ward, case officer, applicant and application status, and set a Consultation Date (the deadline for responses). The date is shown as the Deadline when you add applications to the agenda.

A single application can have more than one purpose. For example, add For Consultation now and Final Status Reached once the decision arrives, so it can appear on two different agendas. Each purpose shows as Pending until it has been used.

To remove a pending purpose you set by mistake, click the red cross next to it. A purpose already used on an agenda cannot be removed this way.

Step 3 - Add applications to the agenda

1. Open the agenda building page and find the parent item, for example "Planning Applications".
2. Click Add Content beneath the item and choose Add Imported Planning Applications.
3. The page lists every imported application purpose not yet used on an agenda. Use Filter by Purpose to narrow the list, for example to For Consultation only.
4. Tick the applications to add. Select All Visible and Deselect All help with long lists. The counter shows how many are selected.
5. Tick Include Application Status in Agenda Text only if you want the status (for example Granted or Refused) printed on the item. This is intended for reporting district council decisions.
6. Click Add Selected to Agenda Item.

You are returned to the agenda, positioned at the last application added, with a confirmation such as "3 planning application(s) added to the agenda."

The Add Content menu is hidden in Agenda Minor Versions, so applications cannot be added there.

What CouncilPapers creates

For each application, a new child item is added at the end of the parent item's existing children, numbered automatically (for example 6.1, 6.2). Each new item has:

After adding

The new items behave like any other agenda item. You can edit the title and text, attach the officer's report or plans through Manage Files, reorder the items, or delete an item you no longer want. See Building an agenda.

If you delete an imported item, its purpose returns to the pending list, so the application can be added again to this or another agenda.

If you cannot see an application

• It does not appear in the list: it may have no purpose yet, or its purposes have all been used. Open it from Planning Imports and add a purpose.
• You need it on a second agenda: add a further purpose to the application; each purpose can be used once.
• The wrong details were imported: correct them under Amend Application Details before adding it. Edits made afterwards do not change items already on an agenda.