Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council Online Planning - Search Help

General guidelines

None of the search fields are case sensitive. For example, "High Street" and "HIGH STREET" will return the same results. Do not include symbols such as *, ? or %; the system does not recognise them and a search which incorporates these characters will return no data. However, you can shorten the length of your search text, provided that it still retains a precise match with the equivalent characters in the field you are searching. For example, "South" and "South S" will still return "South Street", but "S Street" will not. In addition, filling in fewer fields will probably return more than one match, but there is a greater chance that these will include the application you are looking for. If you know the name of the applicant, try using one field in the site address and enter the applicant"s name.

Search by application number i.e. 2014/0001

The most straightforward approach for finding the details of an application is to enter its unique reference number in the "Planning Application Number" field. The reference number can be obtained from all publicity associated with the application, including press adverts (where relevant), site notices and neighbour notification letters. A valid application reference number will always find the relevant application without the need to complete any other field on the search page.

Search by site address

If you wish to locate an application by the address of the proposed development please enter in the first line of the address. This could be either the house name, for example "Rose Cottage", or the house number and road name such as "2 High Street". You could also enter the post code although not all applications will have a post code. Some road names occur more than once in the District such as "High Street" so entering the locality will reduce the number of records returned. The locality is the district in which the application is located such as "Swinton" or "Dalton". Because of the way in which addresses are stored, too much information in these fields is likely to introduce a mismatch and return no data.

Search by Ward

Selecting a Ward is another good way to refine your search to help find an application. However it can additionally be used for finding all the applications in an area for a particular period. For example, you could choose to see all the applications received in a month within a certain Ward.

Search by applicant's and/or agent's details

If you know the applicant's surname then this can provide an effective way of refining your search, particularly if you combine it with a field from the site address. Some surnames are quite common and will return a significant number of applications if applied to the whole of the Council"s application data, but if you limit your search of a particular surname to just one "Address" then you are likely to identify a specific proposal very quickly.

Search by date

Restricting the date ranges of a search can be another very effective way of locating a particular application. The Online Planning Application facility offers 3 ways of refining your search using dates. Dates can either be entered manually using the "DD/MM/YYYY" format, i.e. 31/01/2003, or by using the pop up calendars that appear if you click the icon to the right of each date box. Pop up calendars default to today"s date.

The "Date Received" range refers to the date that the authority would have received the application you are interested in. For example, if you know that an application was received in one particular year then set "From" to 01 January of that year and "To" to 31 December for that year. This is particularly effective if combined with another search field i.e. "Applicant Name" or "Address".

If you know that the application you are looking for has already been determined then you can refine your search by restricting the search using the "Decided/Not Decided" options, possibly combined with a date. However, please remember that for an application to be classed as determined then it must either be subject to a formal decision notice or it must have been withdrawn. For example, a committee resolution alone does not qualify as a decision.

Sort order

The applications retrieved by the search criteria entered can be sorted in a number of ways. By default they will be listed in address order and then in date order within the address. This means that if you were looking for applications in High Street, all of those at 2 High Street would be together in date order, followed by those at 3 High Street and so on.