Planning permission

How to use Highland Council Public Access

Highland Council Public Access is an online tool that lets you find and comment on planning applications in Highland. It provides access to our planning database and all information entered onto the system is immediately available with some necessary restrictions. Find out more about Copyright and the terms and conditions that apply when using Public Access.

Read our full Redaction Policy to understand what types of data will be redacted. It can take up to 3 working days for your comments to appear on the portal as each comment requires review prior to publication. In periods when we receive a high volume of comments this may be longer.

Register

Everyone can use the site to view planning applications but to make comment, save searches and/or track applications, you must Register your details to use Public Access.

• Guide to using Highland Council Public Access

You must only use your own details and express your own views when submitting comments on a planning application. Do not include personal information about another third party (including family members) unless you have told the individual concerned and they consent to it being supplied. If you falsely represent yourself as someone who you aren't, you could be charged with a criminal offense.

Search for applications

Public Access provides a variety of methods to allow you to find the information you are looking for:

• Basic search - search for applications, appeals or enforcements according to some entered text. Associated documents are available from the documents tab. When an application has been withdrawn no associated documents or comments are visible.
• Advanced search - search according to a wide combination of factors
• Map search - search using an interactive map tool
• Property search - search for a particular property to which applications may apply
• Weekly and monthly lists - search for applications whose status is validated or decided within a particular time period

Warning

When generating your own weekly or monthly lists from this website, there may be some cases where there is a delay in updating the Public Access webpages with valid application details. To make sure full lists of all valid applications are viewed, please refer to the lists we publish each week.

Searches that you want to perform frequently can be saved so that they may be repeated easily as often as you like. You will need to Register your details to use the saved search feature.

Searching and viewing application details will only be possible using Firefox, Chrome, Microsoft Edge or above.

Time limit

There is a 10 minute timeout on pages. If this time passes and you are still typing, any information you try to submit will be lost. If you have a large amount of text to be typed, we advise using Microsoft Word or similar to compose your statement, and then copy this into the text box on the website. Comments submitted are also limited to 5000 characters, and you cannot add file attachments.

If your comment exceeds the 5000 character limit or you need to add an attachment, please email directly to eplanning@highland.gov.uk or post your comment to ePlanning, eProcessing Centre, The Highland Council, Headquarters, Glenurquhart Road, IV3 5NX.

Track applications

Register your details to be able to track applications.

Any application, appeal or enforcement can be tracked so that you can keep up-to-date with its progress without having to search for it again. Once you have retrieved an application using one of the search methods, clicking the track button adds this application to your tracked applications list.

When applications that are the subject of a saved search or are in your tracked applications list are modified, a list of those applications will appear in the Notified Applications page. You will also be sent a notification email.

Comment on applications

Register your details to submit comments online on applications.

Once you have retrieved an application using one of the search methods, clicking the comments tab displays how many comments have been made about the application. To add a comment, click on the make a comment button. For full details about publication and what you can comment on please visit our Comment on planning applications page.

Technical Support

If you have any technical difficulties when using:

• ePlanning (ePlanning.scot)
• eBuilding Standards (eBuildingStandards.scot)
• The Highland Council Public Access Site (http://wam.highland.gov.uk/wam/)

Report the issue using our form.

To help us investigate the problem, please include:

• Screenshots of the issue (desirable) - Paste into a word document and attach to the online complaints form as they help us to resolve issues more quickly
• A description of what you were trying to do on our site when the issue occurred (essential)
• Date and time the issue occurred (essential)