How to write an objection

Objections can be sent by email, they can be posted by mail, or they can be lodged on the online portals described below.  Where to send emails and letters to depends on the application.  Smaller developments will be decided by The Highland Council and will only have to be sent to them.   Larger developments get decided by Scottish Ministers and will have to be sent to the Energy Consents Unit as well as to The Highland Council.  Offshore applications will be decided by the Marine Directorate and will have to be sent to them as well as The Highland Council.

All the addresses can be found at the end of this page.  The relevant addresses are included in the objections emails that we send out.  In addition, specific developments can be looked up by using  our Incoming! list that shows all live applications and where to send objections to for each application.

It is very important to include your name and address in your email or letter.

Also very important is to include the reference number of the application and the name of the development.  The Highland Council and the Energy Consents Unit are sometimes slow to publish reference numbers.  We will include them in the emails we send out when they are available, and you can find them in the Incoming! list for all live applications. 

Emails and letters sent to The Highland Council should be published on the Highland Council Planning Portal under the relevant applications.  You can search for an application using the Highland Council Planning Portal.  Emails and letters sent to the Energy Consents Unit should be published on the Energy Consents Unit website.  You can search for an application on the Energy Consents Unit website.

Both The Highland Council and the Energy Consents Unit sometimes lose letters.  If you want to make sure your letter has been published, you have to keep checking the websites of The Highland Council and the Energy Consents Unit until it is published and write to them if it doesn’t appear.   Keep in mind that it can take them months to upload letters. 

The fact that letters have gone missing is one of the reasons why it is so important to write an objection and to get as many others as possible to write too.  So don’t worry if you can’t check whether your objection has been published.  Just try and write an objection in the first place and try and get others to write too. 

An alternative to sending an email or letter is to go to the Highland Council Planning Portal (and where applicable on the Energy Consent Unit website), find the relevant application, sign up, log in and leave a comment on the website.  Keep in mind that you will have to do this for the Highland Council and the Energy Consents Unit separately.  The advantage of this is that you should see your comment within a few days after a scrutiny process has been applied (you may find some information redacted).  The disadvantages are that you have to first find the application,  sign up and log in and then do it all over again for the other website.  You also need to have a reasonable broadband connection.  Not always possible for many of our rural members!

Addresses to send objections: