Review of planning appeals procedure in Wales

[Paul Mobbs]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Hi all,

Another planning consultation, yet again launched during peak holiday time -- 
this time on planning appeals in Wales:
http://wales.gov.uk/consultations/planning/planningappeals/?lang=en

Start of consultation: 17/08/2011
End of consultation: 17/11/2011
Download from --
http://wales.gov.uk/docs/desh/consultation/111708planningappealsen.pdf


As with the planning reforms in England this is all done under the label of 
"efficiency". Of course, as former US President Harry Truman said in a lecture 
in 1959, "Whenever you have an efficient government you have a dictatorship." 
Effectively that's what the planning system is becoming in order to persue any 
form of development which might maintain the myth of perpetual growth.

The consultation paper contains mostly paper-shuffling reforms EXCEPT the two 
seemingly mild changes they're trying to sneak under the radar.

*Firstly, types of appeal* -- this bring Wales into line with the new 
procedures adopted in England in 2009.

If you appeal at the moment you have a choice between written representations, 
an informal hearing or a public inquiry. What's proposed is to change this 
system so that the option is based on the apparent *complexity* of the 
planning case, not the public or political significance of the development 
involved.

At present, where there's a lot of public concern, cases which might be heard 
by an informal hearing can be sent for a full public inquiry -- especially 
where the law on environmental, conservation landscape or archaeological 
protection is in question. As is now the case in England, this restricts the 
ability of the local council to demand a public inquiry so that other local 
interested parties can put their case too.

We still have no third-party rights in the planning system -- this proposal 
takes us in completely the wrong direction by introducing an arbirtrary 
planning rules-based test for how an appeal should be heard, not the will of 
the community who will be subject to the development.


*Secondly, and more significantly, costs*. it's proposed to extend costs to 
written appeals. At the moment you can appeal by written representations and 
not risk having costs awarded against you. It's proposed -- again to harmonise 
Welsh practice with that in England -- to make it possible to award costs in 
written appeals.

Let's say you're doing a low impact development and you have a dead-head local 
council. Mostly those doing low impact development are already poor -- they 
can't afford proper planning representation to make the initial application let 
alone proper representation at an inquiry. If they have permission refused 
they do at least have the chance of a written appeal to get the case heard by 
a less partial judge than the local councillors.

Extending costs to written appeals, as in England, means they risk having the 
local authority's costs awarded against them, with the implication that they 
would have to pay a large bill for daring to appeal against the decision of 
the council.



Ho hum...

P.

- -- 

.

"We are not for names, nor men, nor titles of Government,
nor are we for this party nor against the other but we are
for justice and mercy and truth and peace and true freedom,
that these may be exalted in our nation, and that goodness,
righteousness, meekness, temperance, peace and unity with
God, and with one another, that these things may abound."
(Edward Burrough, 1659 - from 'Quaker Faith and Practice')

Paul's book, "Energy Beyond Oil", is out now!
For details see http://www.fraw.org.uk/mei/ebo/

Read my 'essay' weblog, "Ecolonomics", at:
http://www.fraw.org.uk/mei/ecolonomics/

Paul Mobbs, Mobbs' Environmental Investigations
3 Grosvenor Road, Banbury OX16 5HN, England
tel./fax (+44/0)1295 261864
email - mobbsey at gn.apc.org
website - http://www.fraw.org.uk/mei/index.shtml
public key - http://www.fraw.org.uk/mei/mobbsey-2011.asc

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v2.0.16 (GNU/Linux)
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=U8D6
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----