How to fight Council planning applications - Part 3

Part 3 - The Decision

Unfortunately the decision did not go in our favour and I hope you have better luck. You may wonder whether there is any right to appeal against a decision made by the Committee... well there isn't, unless you are the person making the application and the application is refused.

Be prepared that despite your arguments and the number of objectors the Committee may still approve the plans. The best you can do is try.

The only TIP I can add here is to make your views of the decision known; for example everyone who has attended should get up and leave whilst the Committee are trying to move onto the next issue, noisily if you wish.

Don't be afraid to make comment on the decision as you leave, it is one of things I regretted after all the work and stress I went through and having represented over 100 people:

• it allows you to express feelings couldn't put across professionally during the allocated representation slots – don't be constrained by their “process”, you no longer have to adhere to the process, but they still do


• it makes them aware you will continue fighting despite their decision


• it allows you to have the final say

The most important thing is that they are there to represent you – they are not judges (no matter how much they may act like it), so if they belittle you or tell you to quieten down when leaving make them aware of this! They only deserve your respect once they have earned it. That said don't resort to violence or personal attacks!

One thing I have not yet addressed with respect to the application process is the role of the press. At the Committee meeting there is usually a member of the press (local paper normally) taking notes and you may find that comments you have made within your representations are used if they write it up.

TIP – identify the press and pass a copy of your representations to them – this enables them to provide an accurate reflection of your main points and may include something they have missed. They may actually approach you afterwards to take your contact details. Some of my representations were included in our local paper's article.

If there is objection within the community with respect to the planning application, you may need to make the decision whether to approach the press yourselves. This may be of some benefit if the larger community objects to the plan or they do not understand the true implications of the proposals. It is for you to make the decision, but be aware that the press may become involved whether you choose to contact them or not.

On the other side of the coin however, bringing the press in could also be to your detriment. If other members of the community approve of the plans they may also choose to contact the Council to show their support, as I have previously advised a supporting representative can also speak at the Committee meeting, this does not have to be the person/company/department presenting the application. Unfortunately those who show their support will cancel-out those who object and may actually be more highly regarded by the Council. One of the main arguments the Council used to counter our objections to the proposals were that they would benefit the wider community, despite the local community, those actually around the proposed site objecting to it.

TIP– whilst there may be no real argument against the potential benefits to the community, it could be argued that the site is just not a suitable one; i.e. in our case building a youth centre on a private estate directly behind retirement homes. Therefore in your arguments enforce that there are better sites for the proposals to be located.

Finally once the decision has been made, if you are unhappy with how the Council has handled the planning application process don't give in. Throughout our application the question kept being raised with regards to the Committee's impartiality given that they are part of the Council and the Council is making the application. It will always be harder to oppose an application put forward by the Council than an individual for a number of reasons. I am not saying that there will be any impartiality/pre-determination issues but if there is any evidence of this you should complain to the Local Government Ombudsman who can investigate. Keep up the pressure, if not for you, for future people that who will also need to deal with the same planning department. The more complaints raised in the long run about unfair/impartial department decisions the more likely it will be dealt with. This is our current route and I will try and keep you posted.

Go to the LGO Website for more information.

How to fight Council planning applications - Part 2

Part 2 - The Committee meeting

Once the consultation period is complete, if you have raised an objection to the application you will be invited to the Planning and Highways Committee meeting. It is at this meetings that the planning application will be decided.

At the Committee meeting one person from each side, supporting and objecting, will have the opportunity to address the Committee for a 2 minute period.

TIP - Nominate one person to speak and gather details of everyone's objections – the more reasons for refusing the application you can hit them with the better.

TIP - Rather than solely raising the concerns objectors have, try to find policies which the planing application violates and therefore why the application should not be approved – for example we found several Unitary Development Plan (UDP) Policies contravened by the application's plans and by raising these achieved additional parking spaces and an access route to the site – these details were found on the Council's website.

In our case the Council put forward a report to the Committee prior to the meeting (which I think is common practice). Along with details of why the plans should be approved it detailed the number of objections and the concerns raised. However it also gave them a chance to counter these - albeit in our case they didn't address the main issue in question; the residents' concerns were about the security of the area (such as residents' property) and the Council responded with the security of the proposed site.

TIP - This report was published on the planning website and also handed to us just before the Committee meeting, however a copy was also sent directly to me when I raised my detailed written objection to the Council. N.B. It took a long time for a lot of the documents to be uploaded to the site - it is therefore worthwhile requesting a copy after the consultation period.

After both parties have made their representations the Committee members will then discuss the application based on what they have heard. Further to this the Chair will ask members to indicate whether they approve or reject the planning application and a hand show vote will be taken.

It is possible that the Committee meeting will be deferred either before representations are made or after them to enable further information to be sought. In our case it was deferred twice, once when Committee members were made aware of the number of objectors and then again to allow further consultation with the residents and for the applicant to submit a change of plans.

TIP - Until the decision is due to be made any further objections may be considered – if you need a few more petition signatures or other objections use this time wisely. Also if there are any companies which you believe have not been consulted which should be contact them and ask them to put any objections in writing – businesses/money should have a greater influence than an individual.

TIP - If you do get more than one chance to make representations try and always attack from different angles, if the Council have received written objections they are likely to know the reasons for your objection, there is no point repeating the same thing each time. As mentioned above try and find flaws with the plans especially where approval would be contrary to Council policy, try to gauge what the argument for approving the plans will be and try to counter them and raise any conduct issues i.e. lack of consultation/pre-determination.

TIP - Last but not least be sure you know the correct time and location of the meeting, I have heard of situations where times/locations are changed last minute and those who wish to attend the meeting are not advised. In our case our meeting was moved to another room on a different floor of the Town Hall, whilst many of us were waiting outside of the original allocated room.

See you for my next blog post part 3 - The Decision.