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Contents |
Objecting to a Planning Application | |
| 1: Planning Law History Current Legislation Interpretation Delegation Appeals 2: Local Plan
Policies 3: Residential Design
Guide 4: Grounds for
Objection 6: The Objection
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Information presented here has been
obtained in the course of preparing an (unsuccessful) objection to a
hostile application to build on land adjacent to the lower part of our
garden. Whilst some of the information is of general application, much
is specific to the construction of new properties in the South Forest Area of the Forest of Dean, and to the
Policies of the Forest of Dean District Council.
None of the information presented here should be considered as advice as to a particular course of action when objecting to a planning application. In particular, where issues of Law or Finance are involved, an objector is encouraged to seek professional advice. It is hoped that this site may provide a starting point in preparing an objection. The 21 day consultation period does not allow for much time to research Planning and Legal matters, whereas the developer has had many years of experience. In essence, this site contains some of the information I wish I had had access to when the notification of the Planning Application arrived in the Post! As
an objector it is important not to expect to be successful. The LPA
and elected members of the planning committee will give you the
impression that they are listening to your views and concerns;
Planning officers will advise you of the documents that determine
their decisions – The Local Plan, the Residential Design Guide and
the Highways Requirements for Development, and may even help you in
preparing your letter of objection. They will then make their decision
which will appear to be based on whether, if permission were refused, the applicant would
succeed at appeal and win costs against the Council or, if granted, an
objector may succeed in a complaint through the Ombudsman. Since the
likelihood of the latter is low, and the penalties imposed by the
Ombudsman small (and not mandatory), it is most likely that permission
will be granted. "One
of the more outrageous follies that emerged was that the F.O.D.
district council ended up with a policy of building more houses than
could possibly be required. The excuse was that this would re
activate the local economy! More commuters in reality.
Thinking is something that does not come easily to them." Unknown to you, the
employed officers of the authority will discuss matters with the
developer which may make the impact of the development even worse;
They may, for instance, encourage the developer to increase the
proposed density of housing, or to try to acquire additional land in
order to enlarge the development. You will not be informed of these
discussions and they will only be recorded if carried out by an
exchange of letters. Even then, you will have to ask to see the FULL
planning file (not just the one that contains the application) in order to see them. This usually requires that you
make an appointment several days in advance. Once
a decision to approve has been made, the Authority may apply conditions
but because the developer can appeal against conditions he may think
unfair, these will be carefully chosen. Any requirements that may have mitigated in favor of
a refusal will be overlooked (or transformed into
optional ‘guidance’) A decision
notice will be sent to the applicant, but you will have to pay £10
for your copy. From
this point on communication becomes almost impossible. I am fairly
certain that this LPA has a policy of not responding to letters which
ask how decisions are arrived at unless they begin with the word
‘Complaint’, (I sent 3 which went unanswered) particularly if you question obvious inconsistencies
in the decisions. Of course, an authority that has reached a decision
is hardly likely to admit that it is in error, so your complaint will
be rejected. Where
it is obvious that planning requirements (such as compliance with
local plan policies) have not been met, then an appeal to the
Ombudsman may seem to be the only course of action (A Judicial review
costs upwards of £40,000). Again, do not expect to be successful. The
Ombudsman will only carry out an investigation where he or she judges
that a Councils' behavior is ‘utterly unreasonable’. The Ombudsman
does not define ‘utterly unreasonable’ but it must be a very high
hurdle. Certainly, failing to comply with Local Plan policies does not
appear to qualify. The Ombudsman publishes a document for Councils
entitled ‘Good Administrative Practice’, and a number of case
histories which appear to show that even minor transgressions meet with
criticism and rectification. These suggest the requirement for
high standards of compliance with policies and guidance but they are
clearly written by a different Ombudsman from the one that will
consider and almost certainly reject your complaint. Labour, however, are unmoved by such opposition. In a recent debate in the Commons (see Hansard, near the bottom of the page) Ms Yvette Cooper, Parliamentary Secretary of State at the Office of the deputy Prime Minister thinks that design can overcome inappropriate development: "The hon. Member for Poole made slightly more thoughtful points about increasing density undermining the character of certain areas, but planning policy statement 3 and PPS1 strongly stress the importance of design. Local planning authorities, frankly, should take a much more assertive approach to the quality of developments, the quality of life in an area and design issues. Greater density does not necessarily produce a decline in the quality of life—quite the reverse." This
is what we are up against! The following UK websites also deal with objecting to planning applications: www.mcspotlight.org/campaigns/current/residents/planning.html The Forest of Dean District Council's "Development Control Charter" can be found at www.fdean.gov.uk under 'Planning and Building Control->Development Control' If you have a website related to planning matters that I can add to this list, please email me at planned.off@btopenworld.com
If you have read all of the material presented here and still believe in Father Christmas, then do not follow this link! And if you
have avoided cutting your wrists after all of the above, I strongly
recommend the following: http://www.rottenborough.info/index.html This site was last updated on 12-Mar-2005. |
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