Why don’t Councillors and officers READ? (A free add for SpecSavers)

I was dismayed this week when after a very long period of complete radio silence from a Planning Department, we advised to “make a bit of fire” at the Council. We promptly struck a match and gently warmed things up. It had the desired effect and the Head of Planning at a Borough Council got in touch (after being prompted by the CEO). 

Unfortunately, this specific Head of Planning (in their defence, relatively new in the job) walked over to the case officer and asked for an update. The problem was that the Case Officer had not read the extra information that had been submitted (or if they read it, forgot/didn’t understand it). The Head of Planning took the information from the Case Officer and formed a view…that included 11 potential reasons for a refusal (nine extremely flimsy ones and two where there may be a need for a little logic and pragmatism). Unfortunately, the Head of Planning didn’t review this and no one appears to have picked up on the reams and reams of extra information that would get rid of over 90% of the reasons for refusal. 

Oh, and I mention that this is a rather run-down and polluted Brownfield Site that causes all sorts of issues and is EXACTLY the sort of Brownfield site the CPRE and the Government is saying should be prioritised.  

It is of course deeply frustrating and I am very sure that the Planning Department is understaffed, had changes in Leadership and this application is on more than double the 13 weeks for determination. However, saying that, solving this and avoiding an appeal will not only save the Council unnecessary legal costs but also officers time to prepare for an appeal. I go back to the fact that this is a very run-down Brownfield Site. 

The same goes for Councillors. We had three applications at Planning Committee this week (Monday in St Albans, Tuesday in Islington and Wednesday in East Herts) and we always prepare a briefing note that explains things and provide more images (and in colour) to the Members of the Planning Committee to help them cut through the planning jargon in the official reports (remember, Councillors only have basic training they aren’t qualified planners and bamboozling them with clever tech talk isn’t going to win them over). We follow this up with calls (a bit like your mum checking to see if you did your homework) and inevitably they haven’t read their papers or are just about to read it… every so often you find one that has read it… but that really is seldom. 

People, you have to read the material that is sent to you, or you will end up making stupid and expensive mistakes. So please, on bended knees, save us all a bit of grief and READ! 

Until next week,

Henry