From today (Wednesday, 29 January), Richmond Council will be upgrading its planning system with some services pausing whilst the work is carried out.  

Services affected include: planning enforcement, building control, local land charges and tree works. 

The council say work is due to be completed by Thursday, 6 February. 

Affected Services:  

• Planning: Residents will be unable to search for, view, or comment on planning applications. Deadlines will be extended accordingly. Details of applications will not be visible through My Richmond or the My Richmond app. Planning applications can still be submitted through the Planning Portal, but they will not be processed during this period.  
• Planning Enforcement: There may be a slight delay in the usual service while the council upgrade its software. Residents can continue to use the council online form to report a breach of planning control during this time.  
• Building Control: Applications submitted from Wednesday, 29 January will not be processed until Thursday 6 February. Deadlines will be extended accordingly. Users will still be able to request site visits, and these will be processed as normal.  
• Local Land Charges: Residents will be unable to request a local land charges search from 5pm on Friday, 24 January, this is so that the council can clear all requests from the current system before the upgrade period. Richmond Council will not be able to process any requests during this time.  
• Trees: Residents will be unable to search for, view, or comment on an application for tree works to trees subject to Tree Preservation Order or Section 211 notices for trees in Conservation Areas. Applications can be submitted through the Planning Portal, but they will not be processed during this period.   

However, If residents wish to submit a new planning application, they can do so through the Planning Portal, but applications will not be processed until after Thursday, 6 February. 

Existing planning applications will be transferred to the new system, which users will be able to access from Thursday, 6 February. 

Residents will not be able to make comments on planning applications between 29 January and 6 February, however, deadlines will be extended accordingly.  

Richmond Council note that the new planning system will look and function 'largely the same as the current system'. 

Minor differences appear in how planning applications can be filtered and viewed. 

The new system also allows for longer submissions and the inclusion of images as part of your submission. 

Richmond Council say: "We welcome your feedback on the new system once it is live. Submit your comments to [email protected].  

"If you have any other queries, please email [email protected]. Thank you for your patience during the upgrade works." 

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