Political View: Cost savings with a local planning appeals system
This week the Constitution and Ethics committee made a sensible cross party decision for Peterborough City Council to retain it’s Planning Appeals Committee, writes Conservative Group deputy leader Steve Allen.
This, is in the view of many, a sensible stop-check on occasionally controversial decisions made by the planning committee.
Slowing down planning decisions is not always for the best, but certainly this local review option is a far better than seeing a decision referred to the Planning Inspectorate, with the timescale involved, and the potential of costs being awarded against the Council.
Planning appeals in England allow applicants to challenge decisions made by local planning authorities. Appeals can be made if planning permission is refused, granted with conditions deemed unreasonable, or if a decision hasn’t been reached within the statutory timeframe.
The Planning Inspectorate, an independent government agency, handles appeals. There’s no third-party right of appeal, meaning only the applicant can appeal a decision. Appeals must be submitted within six months of the decision notice, or 12 weeks for householder applications.
Grounds for appeal often involve disputes over whether the decision aligns with the local development plan or national planning policy. The Inspectorate can allow or dismiss the appeal, potentially leading to planning permission being granted or refused.
The Planning Committee provides a valuable service with the councillors sitting on the committee making decisions in a semi judicial role.
Training is provided to those appointed and many councillors on the committee are long serving and experienced with developed skills in the remit of planning, however it is sometimes argued that long service whilst on the surface being helpful leads to a ‘keeper of the flame’’ instinct, rather than the flexibility of opinion that is needed in the role.
To retain the planning appeals committee route prior to referral to the inspectorate is in in my view a sensible option and I am pleased to see this was the view of the majority on the C & E committee.
As a member of the Walking & Cycling working group on the council I should be a protagonist of sport and exercise, and must make sure my recent decision to put more effort into being active isn’t an idle threat!
Keeping ourselves fit with regular exercise and sensible diet is a continuing matter for review by successive governments. Indeed, recent studies have seen evidence that the number of miles walked or cycled have stalled in recent years, with only painfully slow improvements since Covid.
According to the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, exercise is the miracle cure. Lack of exercise is one of the ‘big four’ ‘proximate’ causes of preventable ill health, alongside smoking, poor nutrition, and alcohol excess. Being physically active can prevent dementia, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, depression, heart disease and other common serious conditions, reducing the risk of each by at least 30%.
For many people sport and physical activity is not part of their everyday life. Fewer than two-thirds of adults and less than 50% of children and young people meet the Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines for physical activity. These are serious concerns. I’ll admit that over the years my own commitment to exercise has diminished, with the regime I once maintained being all but lost, and just an occasional cycle journey and swim remaining. However, reading reports from Sport England I have been convinced it’s time to pick up these remaining pursuits again with an increased commitment.
With no local council elections this year my delivery duties are somewhat impacted – so without election material and newsletters to deliver it means even my regular 10K steps are threatened. There is however the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Mayoral Election on 1 st May, so deliveries for Conservative candidate Paul Bristow will at least kick start my return to an exercise routine!