Objection to Planning Application
Discussion
Neighbour with local council authority connections, submitted in March 2016 a planning application to extend, increase the property’s student accommodation.
Myself together with other neighbours objected to the application.
In June 2016 the applicant submitted an amended application, since then the decision on the application has been “pending”.
With the applicant’s connections and contacts within the local council, I accept that the planning application has a good chance of obtaining planning approval.
Are there any further steps that an objector can take to pull the application up for further scrutiny examination etc., and for what possible reasons has the planning application been "pending" so long
Myself together with other neighbours objected to the application.
In June 2016 the applicant submitted an amended application, since then the decision on the application has been “pending”.
With the applicant’s connections and contacts within the local council, I accept that the planning application has a good chance of obtaining planning approval.
Are there any further steps that an objector can take to pull the application up for further scrutiny examination etc., and for what possible reasons has the planning application been "pending" so long
What are the applicants 'connections', and have they declared them if necessary (check the application forms - you have to sign a legal declaration to say whether you are related to an employee of the Local Authority or an Elected Member)?
You can lobby elected members (either your local Councillor or Members of the Planning Committee) to get the application 'called in' to Committee, rather than being dealt with Officer Delegated, if it's headed in that direction. Some LPA's have rules about what has to go to Committee (and are often triggered by a certain minimum number of objections). Members are supposed to declare any personal interest in an application under discussion at committee, so if you know the applicant's connections to the Planning Committee Members and they fail to declare when they should, you've got a case for Judicial Review.
All LPA's allow the public to attend Planning Committees, and some allow objectors to speak, if they register an interest in the application in advance.
You can ask to see the Officer's Report, when it's ready (although that is usually only shortly before it goes to Committee or the decision is taken). Also, check the Council's Planning website for the application, to see what Statutory Consultee comments or other correspondence has been uploaded - this can tell you a lot about the progress of the application and any issues that might be stalling it.
Sometimes there are perfectly legitimate reasons for a protracted Planning process, and corruption in the Planning system is a lot less prevalent than people think (although I wouldn't deny that Elected Members can have influence that can tip the balance if they support or oppose a particular application).
If an application is approved, you can only challenge it by means of Judicial Review. This process is limited to considering whether correct legal procedure was followed, NOT whether the decision that was an outcome of that procedure was right or wrong (so it can invalidate an approval, but it doesn't stop the applicant simply re-submitting and going through the same process again and potentially gaining an identical approval).
Most importantly, bear in mind that LPA's are only allowed to consider certain things under Planning Law (known as 'Material Considerations', and if your objections fall outside of these material considerations, they will carry no weight whatsoever and will be quite properly disregarded. In fact, they can even work against you, by making you look like a NIMBY.
Planning law and procedure is VERY complex, so if you're really, properly determined to resist the application to the most effective extent possible, then engage the services of a skilled Planning Consultant (in which case, if you're serious, contact me via my profile - if you're in the South West, you're in my patch).
You can lobby elected members (either your local Councillor or Members of the Planning Committee) to get the application 'called in' to Committee, rather than being dealt with Officer Delegated, if it's headed in that direction. Some LPA's have rules about what has to go to Committee (and are often triggered by a certain minimum number of objections). Members are supposed to declare any personal interest in an application under discussion at committee, so if you know the applicant's connections to the Planning Committee Members and they fail to declare when they should, you've got a case for Judicial Review.
All LPA's allow the public to attend Planning Committees, and some allow objectors to speak, if they register an interest in the application in advance.
You can ask to see the Officer's Report, when it's ready (although that is usually only shortly before it goes to Committee or the decision is taken). Also, check the Council's Planning website for the application, to see what Statutory Consultee comments or other correspondence has been uploaded - this can tell you a lot about the progress of the application and any issues that might be stalling it.
Sometimes there are perfectly legitimate reasons for a protracted Planning process, and corruption in the Planning system is a lot less prevalent than people think (although I wouldn't deny that Elected Members can have influence that can tip the balance if they support or oppose a particular application).
If an application is approved, you can only challenge it by means of Judicial Review. This process is limited to considering whether correct legal procedure was followed, NOT whether the decision that was an outcome of that procedure was right or wrong (so it can invalidate an approval, but it doesn't stop the applicant simply re-submitting and going through the same process again and potentially gaining an identical approval).
Most importantly, bear in mind that LPA's are only allowed to consider certain things under Planning Law (known as 'Material Considerations', and if your objections fall outside of these material considerations, they will carry no weight whatsoever and will be quite properly disregarded. In fact, they can even work against you, by making you look like a NIMBY.
Planning law and procedure is VERY complex, so if you're really, properly determined to resist the application to the most effective extent possible, then engage the services of a skilled Planning Consultant (in which case, if you're serious, contact me via my profile - if you're in the South West, you're in my patch).
Edited by Equus on Wednesday 23 November 00:37
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