Everyone has to put their planning applications in to the District Council because they are the Planning Authority. The District Council then send the papers to the Parish Clerk so that the Parish Council can give an opinion about that planning application . Note that is is only an opinion because it is the District Council who have the final say. Another thing to bear in mind is that all Councillors (Parish, District , and County) must declare any interests that they may have in the matter. All Councils also have procedures about how they hire companies to carry out works.
If there are any complaints about how any of this was handled, then you must ask to speak to the monitoring officer at the District Council and explain the situation.