From my local council,
"How do we treat documents?
We aim to have all the documents we receive in electronic format as quickly as possible.
The way in which we deal with documents depends on how we receive them. You can submit applications via the National Planning Portal at www.planningportal.co.uk and make comments on planning applications electronically over the internet on this website. These documents are stored in our back office systems ‘back office system’ and may be used to produce physical paper files. Where documents contain personal sensitive data such as emails addresses, telephone numbers, signatures or any other information that can identify you, these are redacted from view before publication on our website."