The Planners Are Coming
Running Time: 30 minutes (approx)Documentary series looking at building planning processes. Still looking for more?
|
The Planners Are Coming is a Documentary programme.
Next Show TimesSeasons in DetailYou may also like
Tags |
United Kingdom
United States
Comments
I have been intrigued with this programme as we are in a situation where our local council have goofed all the way along through the development of a site adjacent to us. This has started with lack of consultation in the beginning, lack of communication throughout the last 2 years whilst the development has been erected, and has allowed the developer to position the buildings in the wrong place, so that our privacy is severely affected. We have now found out that there has been negligence in the council's planning department which has effectively been playing us off against the developer. It seems that the builder and the architect (not the developer) have been in cahoots with someone in the council. When they originally surveyed the local properties for objections, the list of properties included one of the properties to be built! We are progressing a complaint against the council and will be taking it to the planning ombudsman. We believe that the council have ignored all our comments, and would welcome someone impartial looking into this.
Why are you hijacking this thread for your own personal and probably unsubstantiated cliams?
Cock...
From what you have said, I would have thought you are a classic NIMBY. You failed to mention what has been constructed and as for your atempt for free planning advice I would ask your LPA, the only members of the Council that could be in 'cahoot' with the developer would be your Councillor.
I can empathise with Mike. I have gone through exactly the same experience. The council have ignored objections, made huge mistakes, ignored complaints about the errors and just like Mike it seems that they have played us off against the builders. Cost cutting changes have been made without any retospective planning permission and the planners have been completely blinkered. This is an affordable housing development and I have been accused of being a nimby, but why should developers get away with doing what they like when others in the village have to get planning permission to put up a garden shed? Answer: because it is all in house and the local authority is getting government funding to build houses of a certain standard and then cost cutting to make moey.
Our council has goofed also they have allowed a developer to build on land that I sold, a large bulk build house after they turned down my planning application on this land allowing me only a chalet style bungalow, I then sold the land, the developer submitted plans, the planning appraisal was for a chalet style bungalow, but the aproval done by delegated powers was for a house and now they have encroached on further of our land unsold to them, the council ignor this saying it is a civil matter, and they have not monitored the build and they have built it even higher than they had planning permission for, and are now only looking into the matter as we have complained to the ombudsman. A program needs to be done on "The planners are not coming" or "Planners in Carhoot"
I was involved in a planning battle with the Port of London Authority (PLA) and Transport For London when it was proved beyond a shadow of doubt that the PLA had twice knowingly submitted false and misleading information in their responses to a Planning Contravention Notice (PCN). This is a criminal offence under the Town & Country Planning Acts. Westminster Council, for their own reasons, refused to prosecute and the PLA won the planning battle. Co-incidently the Chairman of Westminster Planning Committees and the Chairman of the PLA are both Freeman of the Honourable Company of Watermen & Lightermen and one of the the apellants against the PCN, was a former employee of the PLA. The problem with planning is that the Civil Servants who run the planning departments are, ultimately, purely the servants of their political masters' wishes and intrigues.
Interesting to read the comment by J.Hibbert. One might expect an institution such as the PLA to act more or less impartially, not illegally, intriguing.
Unfortunately the programme is solely about the work of the 'footsoldiers' of the various planning depts. It abjectly fails to address the real problem of vested interests, corruption and political shenanigans that are endemic to the planning process in this country. Read the story of our planning battle (www.rossleopard.net/london_river_001i.pdf) and you will get some idea of how, with the right political connections,
the planning process was so easily subverted.
We were told our contemporary designed house, two years in pre planning discussions was going to be refused un til our architect won a national civic trust award then we were told the planners would support it but it would be failed at committee. It was then at appeal the planning officer made a statement to the inspectorate that said our front wall was higher than it is. We were using a planning consultant so left it all to him and it failed at appeal over this error to do with the height of the wall and the need for a set back access which was unacceptable in a conservation area. The planning consultant missed the planning officers error and commiserated with us over the dismissed appeal but did not tell us to go to the High Court. We missed the 6 wks timeframe for that (my husband's father had died just when we had appeal decision) and we felt utterly cheated. We were not applying to put the usual noddy house on our plot and paid a lot for a great architect designed house.
We then applied for the vehicle access separately had to go to appeal to win that as a councillor lives opposite and the committee could not go against their previous reason for refusal..
The system stinks though we have not given up, surprisingly!
It is definately no wonder only poor pastiche type developments tend to be built in this country when the system is so weighted against appliants who meet all the polcy requirements but have to jump so many political hurdles.
The planners should take a lot of blame too as they have so little training in design.