We have prepared the following guidance for our members in aid of planning and submitting their questions during the applicant’s planning outline meeting on December 3rd.
Outline Planning Briefing Sheet
If the outline planning goes through, then there is no appeal once it is approved.
What is the best way to stop outline planning permission?
- If due legal processes have not been followed. No advertising on street lamp posts on site is in contravention of nationally recognised legal practice and can lead to an invalid application.
- Main argument is the loss of parking with little available on street parking and existing valuable use. This will have an impact and create pressure for parking on surrounding streets and raises safety issues.
- Impact on street scene by the demolition and loss of existing Victorian housing stock which clearly can be repaired.
- The whole application has no reflection on the local surroundings, is an over development in terms of number of houses, shows little imagination in terms of layout and design and no local context.
Arguments which are important and will not stop the application
- It is usually best practice for the applicant to meet with those local people with concerns and objections prior to the Development Control Committee. This is a good idea and most developers will do this. The Council are determining/deciding on their proposals and there is a conflict of interest and a lack of independence. It is important to note that this is not a reason for refusal if they have followed their own policies (and others like the National Park) and legal practices.
- National Empty Homes policies – the government is encouraging councils to identify Empty Homes and bring them back into use to maximise housing stock. This is not a reason for refusal.
DCC Highways will be asked to give a view on every planning application within the County. This is standard procedure.
The Development Control Committee (the Planning Committee) is a public meeting. People can attend to view proceedings and there may be a restriction on the numbers allowed into the meeting. A member of the public can request to ask a question of the Committee. This is achieved by booking in advance a question by contacting the Committee Clerk at HPBC. Please check the amount of time that you are allocated for your question – it will be between 3 and 5 minutes. You can Email planning@highpeak.gov.uk to request to raise a question.
Tactics
It is best if we ask a variety of questions based on the four themes above. To ask the same questions is repetitive and boring and will probably be stopped. We need local people to request their spot and let us know their questions in advance so that we can develop a spread of questions and cover all bases.
We need to identify:
- Who is willing and who can ask questions with passion and impact.
- Who wishes to attend as the public and view the meeting.
We need to raise our concerns with DCC Highway ASAP.
Please Email info@higherbuxtonactiongroup.co.uk with details of your question so we can get the balance right.
Kevin Skingsley 21st November 2018