| Topic: | Planning procedures criticised | |
| Posted by: | Victor Mishiku | |
| Date/Time: | 09/05/13 00:03:00 |
| The Council's Planning Department procedures were heavily criticised in the Dr Onkar Singh Sahota case. The worst elements being the fact that the case officer (who left the Council whilst the application was being considered) wrote her report to committee (or did someone else complete it?) BEFORE the objectors planning adviser, Mr Peter Causer and others had time to lodge their submissions on the Revised Plans As you may recall, the Planning Department would not wait even for 14 days (the curtailed consultation time given) for Mr Causer's 8-page submission to be lodged - let alone digested and taken into account before the final report to committee was completed. Residents feel that this was a very serious breach of trust. The Government and previous planning ministers have stated that they wish to encourage people to participate in the decision-making process. This is sometimes a tough job in L.B.Ealing these days! Since this topic started re. 43 Castlebar Road Ealing, there have been two other extraordinary cases, one at No.1 Rosemont Road (part of the "Springfield Park Estate, Acton") and another at "Peacehaven" No.3 Creswick Road on the same estate. "Peacehaven" is a magnificent red-bricked house in a leafy setting at the corner of two roads (Creswick Road and Pierrepoint Road) not far from the small but popular "Springfield Gardens" Park. There is a photo of the Victorian house (which had a ballroom) on this Website under an article entitled "PLANNING UNDER FIRE". In both cases, neighbours living nearby and in the same house in Rosemont Road (divided into flats 6 permitted, but 7 built - no enforcement and no communal garden for 3 flats contrary to the application details approved) were unaware of the applications. One neighbour only found out about the proposed development (another 2-storey house in the back garden) when she bumped into all the Planning Committee walking around the property on the Saturday morning before the night of the Committee Meeting! The "Peacehaven" and another Garden Land development in Acton come before the Committee next Wednesday and needless to say, once again the planners are fully recommending more "Garden Grabbing" (the worst ever example was at No.2 Creswick Road next to the Park where 8 three-storey houses and an Access Road replaced an elegant 1920's cottage named "Trevenna Cottage" built for Mrs Olive Athawes of the Auctioneers' family in Acton and its beautiful long garden adjacent to the Park and thus extending the leafy vista from the Park). I hope that the Committee REJECTS the recommendation of the planners for out of character backgarden development. "Peacehaven" is actually a locally-listed building (thanks to the efforts of Mrs Edith Oakes, who also resisted attempts over 15 years to build next to the Park and who saved the grand Victorian house "Grasgarth" from destruction some years earlier). I would invite you to view Harrow Council's latest SPD (Supplementary Planning Document) at: www.harrow.gov.uk/spd One could not ask for more to protect green spaces (bearing in mind that residential gardens are now classified as "Greenfield" land as of 9th June 2010 - not that you would know this by the actions of some in Ealing Planning Department). It seems (and as MP Angie Bray has complained of) that some at Ealing Planning are not prepared to recognise the intention of the then Planning Minister when he said:- "For years the wishes of local people have been ignored as the character of neighbourhoods and gardens have been destroyed, robbing communities of vital green space. It is ridiculous that gardens have until now been classified in the same group as derelict factories and disused railway sidings, forcing councils and communities to sit by and watch their neighbourhoods get swallowed up in a concrete jungle. Today I am changing the classification of garden land so councils and communities no longer have their decisions constantly overruled, but have the power to work with industry to shape future development that is appropriate for their area. This is just the start of wholesale reform I want to make to the planning system, so councils and communities are centre-stage in a reformed system that works for them, and is not just a tool of top-down policy." Victor Mishiku 9/5/13 - "The Covenant Movement" vmfree@madasafish.com |