Putting pressure on planning officer?
Discussion
We want to put in a planning application for a hospitality related development, yet despite the fact that the proposed scheme when up and running would attract tourism and generate employment, major parts of the county's UDP, we are having to deal with a backside ache of a planning officer who has been dragging his feet for months. I am contemplating bringing this to the attention of the local MP to try and get some positive action going, but I am not sure if this would backfire on us. Has anyone got any experience of this type of action, good or bad?
If you genuinely feel that the it's the Planning Officer who's not performing, I'd suggest your first approach should be to the Head of Planning, but try to do so in a way that is non-confrontational/critical, if you can; for example, try being sympathetic and appreciative of the Officer's workload, but suggest that perhaps he's overloaded (he almost certainly will be - or at least will think he is). Point out as reasonably as you can the benefits the scheme will bring to the local economy and the fact that you have (presumably) paid a whacking great Planning fee and therefore feel it it reasonable to expect a certain level of service in return, and ask that the Chief Planning Officer reviews the Case Officer's workload and ensures he has the time/resources to deal with your case effectively.
If that doesn't work, escalate to writing to the Chair of the Council Planning Committee.
If that doesn't work, then progress to writing to your MP, but to be honest Local Authority Officers tend to be more scared of their own Members than their MP's; the latter tend to be regarded as at best a nuisance and at worst a joke.
Probably a silly question, but if the application has genuinely been strung out for months, why aren't you appealing on the grounds of non-determination? The threat of appeal will often rattle Planning departments as much as or more than pressure on Concillors, as it both looks bad on their statistics, and takes the decision (and to some extent the Conditions that control the subsequent development) out of their hands.
If that doesn't work, escalate to writing to the Chair of the Council Planning Committee.
If that doesn't work, then progress to writing to your MP, but to be honest Local Authority Officers tend to be more scared of their own Members than their MP's; the latter tend to be regarded as at best a nuisance and at worst a joke.
Probably a silly question, but if the application has genuinely been strung out for months, why aren't you appealing on the grounds of non-determination? The threat of appeal will often rattle Planning departments as much as or more than pressure on Concillors, as it both looks bad on their statistics, and takes the decision (and to some extent the Conditions that control the subsequent development) out of their hands.
Ken Sington said:
We want to put in a planning application for a hospitality related development, yet despite the fact that the proposed scheme when up and running would attract tourism and generate employment, major parts of the county's UDP, we are having to deal with a backside ache of a planning officer who has been dragging his feet for months. I am contemplating bringing this to the attention of the local MP to try and get some positive action going, but I am not sure if this would backfire on us. Has anyone got any experience of this type of action, good or bad?
If I understand your original post correctly you don’t actually have a current planning application. Whist the planning department should generally offer pre-application advice (some councils are charging for this now) they are not obliged to, their priority is to determine submitted planning applications. On the flip side, you are perfectly entitled to make a planning application without discussing it prior to submission. Given this I am not entirely sure why you are waiting for the planning officer, and they may not be aware that they need to do anything. Quite a lot of people seem to view the planning officer as their planning consultant, however it is not their role to prepare and justify your proposal. Rather, it is their role is to assess your proposal against the relevant local and national planning policy. If you want preparation and justification you need to employ a planning consultant.Anyway, as I say it’s difficult to give specific advice based on limited understanding of the situation but have you considered how it stands against local and national planning policy. It’s all very well saying that it would attract tourism and generate employment, but if this is contrary to planning policy it may be difficult for the planning officer to support it. It’s best to think as the planning officer as the fulcrum of a balance, who has to look at the pros and cons before coming to a reasoned conclusion. It is often inevitable that developers only see the pros and objectors only see the cons.
If you still feel there is an issue to address with the planning officer then I suggest you think carefully before speaking to people about them. Making complaints is often seen as threatening or bullying tactics and is unlikely to endear you to them. I think you should start from the bottom and work up in terms of management and organisation. You may find that the planning officer’s line management is sufficient to get things moving, whilst the local MP may be overkill. Be aware that going to certain people, such as members of the Planning Committee, may cause conflict of interest issues at a later date. Finally, failing all that is it possible to deal with another planning officer at the council?
Edited by Red&WhiteMonkey on Friday 4th June 13:34
Thanks for the replies and advice. We have not actually made an application yet, going on the theory that we are more likely to succeed with our application when we do put it in if we have the planning officer on side, rather than going in, getting turned down and then having further delays and costs if we have to appeal. All we are trying to get out of him is a yay or nay rather than consent to any fine detail. Our proposals are very much in line with major planks of the planning policy for the county, which makes it all the more frustrating.
We get them sometimes that we submit an app then have to amend it to suit what the Planning department require. They usually let us know of any issues and allow us to alter the designs rather than just rejecting it.
Shropshire Council at the moment do seem to have a 3 week backlog of planning apps so if it happens to be that Council they are rather busy
Shropshire Council at the moment do seem to have a 3 week backlog of planning apps so if it happens to be that Council they are rather busy
Try having a word with the Economic Development Officer/Tourism Officer/Regeneration/someone similar at the Council and see if they will support your application on the grounds of the benefits it may bring to the local economy. You can then go back to the Planing Officer showing that you have support from inside their Council and have seriously considerd the issues. Has worked for us on many occasions.
carmadgaz said:
We get them sometimes that we submit an app then have to amend it to suit what the Planning department require. They usually let us know of any issues and allow us to alter the designs rather than just rejecting it.
This happens all the time.Even with Authorities that encourage pre-app advice, submitting a formal Application is sometimes the only way of focusing their minds sufficently to actually consider the detail of the proposal.
You also need to be conscious that the actual Case Officer is little more than a glorified administrator these days and on complex proposals is mainly there to coordinate assessment of the design by other specialists (Urban Designers, Highways Officers, Landscape Officers, etc. etc.). Getting meaningful responses from all these people for pre-application advice will often be next to impossible, since they will all have better things to spend their time on than giving free advice on a proposal that (as far as they are concerned) might never come forward.
As Gaz says, it's often necessary to use a formal application to flush out the real issues.
If things end up getting complicated to the point where they can't be dealt with within the Statutory Determination Period, there is the option of withdrawing the application, continuing to negotiate the issues (by this time the Planning Officer and Statutory consultees will recognise that you are serious and will usually realise that it's in their own best interest to keep up the momentum), then re-submit when you think you have resolved the detail (you don't have to pay a fee for the re-submitted application, provided it's of the same basic nature and within one year of the original).
Best way forward would be to warn the Planning Officer that it is your intention to submit an application by ringing him, explaining that you are about to submit and asking him for confirmation of his 'validation requirements' (ie. a list of all the information that he will need to determine the application. This will let him know you are serious and give him fair warning of the application, without it just landing on his desk unannounced.
Sam_68 said:
carmadgaz said:
We get them sometimes that we submit an app then have to amend it to suit what the Planning department require. They usually let us know of any issues and allow us to alter the designs rather than just rejecting it.
This happens all the time.Even with Authorities that encourage pre-app advice, submitting a formal Application is sometimes the only way of focusing their minds sufficently to actually consider the detail of the proposal.
You also need to be conscious that the actual Case Officer is little more than a glorified administrator these days and on complex proposals is mainly there to coordinate assessment of the design by other specialists (Urban Designers, Highways Officers, Landscape Officers, etc. etc.). Getting meaningful responses from all these people for pre-application advice will often be next to impossible, since they will all have better things to spend their time on than giving free advice on a proposal that (as far as they are concerned) might never come forward.
As Gaz says, it's often necessary to use a formal application to flush out the real issues.
If things end up getting complicated to the point where they can't be dealt with within the Statutory Determination Period, there is the option of withdrawing the application, continuing to negotiate the issues (by this time the Planning Officer and Statutory consultees will recognise that you are serious and will usually realise that it's in their own best interest to keep up the momentum), then re-submit when you think you have resolved the detail (you don't have to pay a fee for the re-submitted application, provided it's of the same basic nature and within one year of the original).
Best way forward would be to warn the Planning Officer that it is your intention to submit an application by ringing him, explaining that you are about to submit and asking him for confirmation of his 'validation requirements' (ie. a list of all the information that he will need to determine the application. This will let him know you are serious and give him fair warning of the application, without it just landing on his desk unannounced.
Any amendments made to the application will need to be done prior to any consulatation taking place though.....after they have sent out the papers to the parish etc (in my LA) there are no amendments allowed.
I agree with all of the above.
Norwich City Council have taken 8 weeks to reply to me on an informal basis (no fee involved).
As the OP is at an informal basis you go to the bottom of the pile.
Applicants who have paid get dealt with first. Don't, whatever you do upset the apple cart!!!!!
Norwich City Council have taken 8 weeks to reply to me on an informal basis (no fee involved).
As the OP is at an informal basis you go to the bottom of the pile.
Applicants who have paid get dealt with first. Don't, whatever you do upset the apple cart!!!!!
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