Tag: Planning Inspectorate

After 1 objection, Labour councillor speaks in favour of filming; Planning Inspector Griffiths rules it is allowed

After 1 objection, Labour councillor speaks in favour of filming; Planning Inspector Griffiths rules it is allowed

After 1 objection, Labour councillor speaks in favour of filming; Planning Inspector Griffiths rules it is allowed

                           

Yesterday marked a first for me as I attended my first planning appeal hearing. It was an informal hearing involving an appeal to a planning application decided by a Wirral Council planning officer just before Christmas last year.

The application was for ten houses in the greenbelt near Storeton Woods, where there are currently stables and a paddock. When the Wirral Council planning officer (the decision was made by Mrs C Parker) made their decision last year to refuse the application, there had been twenty-two people in favour of the application and thirty-five against and you can view the original documentation surrounding the planning application on Wirral Council’s website.

Wirral Council refused the application for three reasons, the first being it was considered to be inappropriate development in the greenbelt, on highway safety grounds and because the applicant didn’t submit enough information to determine the effect on trees covered by a tree preservation order.

Usually planning appeals don’t result in hearings and are just decided on the papers submitted by each side. The hearing was held in Committee Room 2 at Wallasey Town Hall, followed by a site visit after which the planning inspector Paul Griffiths would give his decision.

Almost a year ago, when the controversy over bloggers filming public meetings was at its height, the Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP issued new guidance about the filming of planning appeal hearings. In fact in the press release that I link to there is a specific mention of Wirral Council’s refusal to allow me film a Planning Committee meeting in July 2013 on “health and safety” grounds as covered by the Liverpool Echo. The guidance issued then was that filming at planning appeal hearings should be allowed and a quote from the press release was “Ministers hope this will open up a previously mysterious and rarely seen side of the planning process.”

So I brought along my video camera and tripod to film the planning appeal hearing. What was interesting was near the start of the hearing there was at the start an objection to my filming of the hearing.

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Above is video of an informal planning appeal hearing against a refusal of planning permission by Wirral Council (23rd July 2014)

As those who are regular readers of my blog will know, there have been problems in the past when objections have been made by those present to me filming public meetings (even in the recent past) when such a decision has been in the hands of Wirral Council politicians who haven’t always been on the side of openness and transparency.

I include below a transcript of the part of the meeting where the filming issue was discussed which starts seventeen seconds in to the clip above. For information, Matthews and Goodman Limited were the agents to the planning application that was being appealed and were there at the hearing to represent the appellant (Ms Lin Smith of Woodend Cottage, Marsh Lane, Wirral).

PLANNING INSPECTOR (PAUL GRIFFITHS)
Can I ask if there are any members of the press present?

JOHN BRACE
Behind you.

PLANNING INSPECTOR (PAUL GRIFFITHS)
Right, OK. You’ll need to give me your name and address on a separate piece of paper, if that’s alright? Then you get a copy of the decision directly from the Inspectorate.

JOHN BRACE
I’ve put our names on the attendance sheet, do you want to…

PLANNING INSPECTOR (PAUL GRIFFITHS)
If you just mark it, then on the attendance list, when it comes back I’ll deal with that.

NEIL CULKIN (OF MATTHEWS & GOODMAN LTD)
Sir, can I ask what press they are representing and why because we’ve received an objection from the applicant to filming events today?

PLANNING INSPECTOR (PAUL GRIFFITHS)
Hmm, hmm.

JOHN BRACE
Sorry could you speak up, I didn’t quite hear it?

PLANNING INSPECTOR (PAUL GRIFFITHS)
OK, what newspaper are you here representing?

JOHN BRACE
I don’t represent a newspaper.

PLANNING INSPECTOR (PAUL GRIFFITHS)
Right.

JOHN BRACE
I write a blog about Wirral Council and I also film at Planning Committee meetings.

PLANNING INSPECTOR (PAUL GRIFFITHS)
OK.

NEIL CULKIN (OF MATTHEWS & GOODMAN LTD)
As I said to, through you Sir, as previously indicated the applicant has objected to the events being filmed.

PLANNING INSPECTOR (PAUL GRIFFITHS)
Why is that, is there a particular problem with that?

NEIL CULKIN (OF MATTHEWS & GOODMAN LTD)
Errm, I’m just acting on instructions.

PLANNING INSPECTOR (PAUL GRIFFITHS)
Hmm, OK.

COUNCILLOR JERRY WILLIAMS (WIRRAL COUNCIL)
Could I make a comment?

PLANNING INSPECTOR (PAUL GRIFFITHS)
Well no, I don’t want to get drawn into a debate about whether or not the hearing should be filmed.

COUNCILLOR JERRY WILLIAMS (WIRRAL COUNCIL)
I’m the elected Member for Bebington, sorry I’m the elected Member for Bebington.

PLANNING INSPECTOR (PAUL GRIFFITHS)
OK.

COUNCILLOR JERRY WILLIAMS (WIRRAL COUNCIL)
I want to comment on that.

PLANNING INSPECTOR (PAUL GRIFFITHS)
Well what did you want to say?

COUNCILLOR JERRY WILLIAMS (WIRRAL COUNCIL)
Just to make a comment, this gentleman records Council meetings, he records Council meeting and he comes in. There’s no side to the gentleman, he does a very good job, he records and he comes to all Council meetings to actually witness how the Council operates, so there’s no problem with it whatsoever.

PLANNING INSPECTOR (PAUL GRIFFITHS)
Well I mean, I think from my point of view, as an inspector, we are, we’ve all, generally in the past been left to our discretion, whether we allow events to be filmed or to be recorded in any other way, tape recording or people taking verbatim notes.

We’re under instructions that you know in the interests of openness that we’re not supposed to stop it. So.

NEIL CULKIN (OF MATTHEWS & GOODMAN LTD)
In light of the comments received from Councillor Williams, the applicant has no objection to events being filmed and what goes on.

PLANNING INSPECTOR (PAUL GRIFFITHS)
Well I’m quite content with it, it’s not the first time I’ve been filmed and I’m just glad it’s behind me.

(laughter)

You can read what the planning inspector’s decision was and why he made it in EXCLUSIVE: Planning Inspector Griffiths refuses appeal for 10 houses in greenbelt near Storeton Woods.

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Planning Committee (Wirral Council) (27th June 2013) APP/13/00398: 11 Templemore Road, Oxton, CH43 2HB – Single Storey Garage

Planning Committee (Wirral Council) (27th June 2013) APP/13/00398: 11 Templemore Road, Oxton, CH43 2HB – Single Storey Garage

Continues from Planning Committee (Wirral Council) (27th June 2013) APP/13/00398: 11 Templemore Road, Oxton, CH43 2HB – Single Storey Garage.

Cllr Alan Brighouse: Thank you Chair, errm, I just, basically I have two concerns with regards to this err this sort of proposal. One relates to the err planning history and only in as much as the planning history is relevant to the application we have before us, there’s a considerable planning history and I would like to say something about that and the other is err my other concern is the impact of the proposal on the adjacent property at number thirteen Templemore Road.

I think clearly this should be stopped on that particular issue, clearly I think understandably to the next door neighbour errm that this err proposal does conflict with errm HS11 because if you are putting up a garage and a house extension, which is in conflict with the policy as I understand it. You’ll know far better than I do that the house extension should be designed in such a way that there are no significant adverse affect on the amenities of neighbouring properties. Given the slope of the road and the fact that the next door property is slightly lower almost, you can’t fail to say that it represents an unneighbourly development. That said my other concern is that it will add err probably forty percent to the footprint of this house and I think that is a key consideration, err particularly when we look at some of the previous applications that err have been brought forward to this property.

It was errm the oddest place to put a garage, which is actually when you’re standing in the road, it’s actually to the left hand side of the property and an application was came before the Committee for a garage on that site. It was refused by this Committee and then it was subsequently over to the Planning Inspectorate who also err did not approve a garage and the reason that he gave, principally he had two reasons, one which is not relevant to this what we’re looking at with this application we’re looking at today, that the proposed garage was out of the building line but his second reason errm and in fact he gave in conclusion and again if you allow me I’ll just read to you what the Planning Inspector said.

He said and this is referring not to this garage obviously but the previous application, “I find in conclusion, I find that the proposed garage would be out of scale with the existing houses, would be an uncharacteristic feature of the street scene, it would be prominent and would be harmful to the character and appearance of the area around Templemore Road. On this basis it would not preserve or enhance the character and appearance of the Conservation Area.”

Now this is a different garage and I wouldn’t pretend that it’s not for one moment, but errm I think it is important that err the garage is going to add forty percent. It’s it’s it’s certainly an argument to declare if you put the errm the reasons that the Planning Inspector gave for refusal only as recently as September could be applied this particular application and I also think if you just look at the whole history of applications on this site and again I don’t think there’s as far as … the application.

In errm 1981 there was an application for a house and garage I think and there was a house and garage but we didn’t know what we… and then in 1999 there was an application for a house on this site and that was refused. It was refused partly because of trees again which is not relevant to this application but it was refused on the grounds that it was errm it was setting the property on a on a plot with the elevated treatment, that does not err preserve or enhance neither the Conservation Area or the house that the that the plot the house on which the build, the house that was built on 11 Templemore Road was actually built in garden of the house that is errm in Fairclough Lane.

And it was only in 2002 that the house was finally approved and was a coach house with a side elevation on Templemore Road and it was approved and we can see from the architect’s.. design statement that the footprint of the dwelling is relatively small and then again going forward again in April 2012, this Committee approved an application for a conservatory err on the left hand side and to the rear and my, err this .. goes to the nub of my concern, which is that if you take the conservatory and the garage together, if you were to approve this garage then you’re actually increasing the footprint of this house by ninety percent… and that I think is a considerable increase in its overall size.

Errm and I think that errm I think clearly, clearly its your decision entirely your decision to make, but I think that you do have to be aware are saying that the decisions that were previously made, where either the planning policy CH2, CH7 or HS11 were appropriate as reasons for refusal that they are no longer relevant and that you, you’re making the decision to accept that in effect that we are accepting an erosion of the existing planning policies by allowing this sort of process which would be significantly increasing the size of errm of the footprint.

Cllr Bernie Mooney (Chair): Right, thank you very much.

Continues at Planning Committee (Wirral Council) (27th June 2013) APP/13/00398: 11 Templemore Road, Oxton, CH43 2HB – Single Storey Garage.