The planning system is supposed to be a
standard system applied across the country, so why do we encounter so many
different ‘interpretations’ of Planning Law?
We are noticing that a lot of Planning Authorities are recruiting new
younger staff. However, in some cases it would appear to be at the expense of senior
experienced staff who are leaving to set up on their own in private practise. Others,
completely disillusioned, just want to get as far away from planning as is
possible.
Here is a typical example (we could mention many more!!).
We submitted an application to extend a dwelling with a two storey extension to
the front. The site was a corner plot
within a cul-de-sac. At Agrarian, our
policy is that once the application is registered and coming towards the end of
the consultation period, we telephone the planning officer to ascertain their
thoughts and comments.
So, when the consultation period had ended, I rang the officer, introduced
myself and asked if there had been any negative comments from the neighbours or
other consultees (sometimes the comments are posted on the councils’ website
but not always!). The officer cut me short saying that they were going to
refuse the application as it was un-neighbourly and too big for the site. Mmm..
deep breath, then I once again asked very politely ‘were there any negative
comments’. The officer then, almost reluctantly, replied ‘no, nobody objected’.
‘Not even the neighbours ?’ I enquired . The planner commented ‘no, none of the
neighbours objected’. ‘Oh OK, thanks’ I replied
going on to ask ‘what did the officer think of the site context when they
visited the site ?’ . The silence was deafening and then a mumbled response
saying that they had not actually visited the site yet ! However, given their
experience they considered that the application should be refused. So, once again a deep breath, and I very
politely (politeness always seems to throw people off balance! Is that because
so many people aren’t?) stated that you want to refuse the application because:
1. The application is un-neighbourly
(great government term!) yet none of the neighbours who were consulted
objected! This may be due to the fact that we had already approached the
neighbours with copies of the drawings and ascertained that they were happy!
2. The development is too large for the
site. Mmm... I then commented to the planner that if they visited the site they
would be able to appreciate the context of the extension in the site setting. I
also confirmed that the percentage increase of the extension on the footprint
of the house in relation to the site was still within the permitted percentage
increase.
‘Oh’ came the response, ‘perhaps I shall
discuss this with my line manager and visit the site’. ‘Yes that would be great and will it be OK if I telephone you the following week to find
out your thoughts further ?’ I added.
So a week went by and I contacted the
planning officer, who seemed a lot more amenable, and commented that, after
visiting site and discussing it with their line manager, they had written their
report on the application recommending approval. I duly thanked the officer for
their diligence and wished them well.
The moral of the incident is that you should
never accept a planning officer’s first comments as, in this case, it went from
a ‘no - it’s a refusal’ to ‘yes - it’s an approval’ due to some polite, dogged determination backed-up
with a fair amount of planning knowledge and experience. Perhaps that’s why
Agrarian has a 99% planning approval rate over a ten year period!
