LOSE ANOTHER DAY ?
Reference my recent post about the planning application to build 250 houses on some farmland hereabouts, last night saw the application debated at length by the local area Planning Committee of elected councillors. There had been hundreds of objections to the scheme from local residents, myself included, and to be fair to our elected representatives the majority of them spoke against the application and at the end of a lengthy debate the application was turned down by fourteen votes to four.
Sounds good? Well, the Council`s Planning Officer advised the Committee that in fact the application must now stand deferred for the Council to consider the cost implications of fighting any appeal which the developers will doubtless pursue; so effectively we don`t have a definitive decision as such, rather we have yet another delay before the matter is finally resolved. The Planning Officer was pretty clear in defending his recommendation that the application should be approved, albeit with loads of conditions attached, and he confirmed that in his opinion the reasons put forward by the Committee to refuse the application were not likely to be upheld at an appeal.
I can see this saga going on for a while - but what irks me is the notion that, despite the wishes of the majority of local residents, despite the recommendation of the Planning Officer to grant conditional approval being overturned; and despite the considered democratic `decision` of the Planning Committee last night, we might after all have a pyrrhic victory on our hands. But rather than worry about cost implications perhaps the Planning people should be asked to go away and use the deferment to come up with reasons to refuse the application which could be sustained at an appeal.
Any appeal will of course be held by a Planning Inspector appointed by HM Gov. for the purpose, so the outcome will probably be determined well away from the local anxiety the application is causing and, given the preponderance of the gobbledegook that seems to inhabit the mystical world of planning, the chances are that the planners will have their way in the end.
So, we might have won the battle last evening only to lose another day.....and here`s me thinking that you can`t put a price on considered, thought through, local democratic `decisions.` At my age, I should know better.
Sounds good? Well, the Council`s Planning Officer advised the Committee that in fact the application must now stand deferred for the Council to consider the cost implications of fighting any appeal which the developers will doubtless pursue; so effectively we don`t have a definitive decision as such, rather we have yet another delay before the matter is finally resolved. The Planning Officer was pretty clear in defending his recommendation that the application should be approved, albeit with loads of conditions attached, and he confirmed that in his opinion the reasons put forward by the Committee to refuse the application were not likely to be upheld at an appeal.
I can see this saga going on for a while - but what irks me is the notion that, despite the wishes of the majority of local residents, despite the recommendation of the Planning Officer to grant conditional approval being overturned; and despite the considered democratic `decision` of the Planning Committee last night, we might after all have a pyrrhic victory on our hands. But rather than worry about cost implications perhaps the Planning people should be asked to go away and use the deferment to come up with reasons to refuse the application which could be sustained at an appeal.
Any appeal will of course be held by a Planning Inspector appointed by HM Gov. for the purpose, so the outcome will probably be determined well away from the local anxiety the application is causing and, given the preponderance of the gobbledegook that seems to inhabit the mystical world of planning, the chances are that the planners will have their way in the end.
So, we might have won the battle last evening only to lose another day.....and here`s me thinking that you can`t put a price on considered, thought through, local democratic `decisions.` At my age, I should know better.
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