Planning process undermined, says MP (From Bicester Advertiser)
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Planning process undermined, says MP
7:00am Wednesday 6th February 2013 in News
A PLANNING chief said a Government response to “opportunistic” housing plans in north Oxfordshire does not fill him with him confidence.
Cherwell District Council’s lead member for planning Michael Gibbard spoke after Banbury MP Sir Tony Baldry raised in the House of Commons a housing crisis facing the area.
New estates backed by the council have not been built and plans for further estates have yet to be agreed by the authority in its new ‘local plan’ for the area.
This has led to plans being submitted for villages like Bloxham and Hook Norton, which are not in the local plan, but which developers say could provide much-needed homes.
Sir Tony told the Commons that although the council can refuse these, they can be overturned on appeal at the Planning Inspectorate.
He warned: “If that continues to happen it will completely undermine any concept of a local plan-led system.”
The inspectorate must get “clear guidance” on draft local plans or risk “very opportunist” planning applications, he said.
Planning Minister Nick Boles said: “The draft plan that Cherwell District Council has produced emphatically does have some weight in decisions.”
He said estates which have not been built should be “considered deliverable” unless they are “clearly and demonstrably unviable”. But he added that the lack of homes is “one of the greatest crises of social justice”.
Mr Gibbard said of Mr Boles’ statement: “It does not give me confidence that the emerging local plan will be a great factor in inspectors’ decisions.”
Comments(2)
Nick Mawer
says...
7:37am Fri 8 Feb 13
Before you point it out, I have not forgotten that I owe you an explanation for the imagined smoking gun that you have. Since the letter was not written to me or by me, I am actually checking what was meant - and not putting my own interpretation on it.
Severian says...
11:45pm Thu 7 Feb 13
The Eco plans have seen CDC ride completely roughshod over the whole concept of localism and democracy, and the twisting of planning regulations to allow interested parties to get their way irrespective of any local plans.
In fact the Bicester Eco town doesn't even have a plan, yet Cherwell is determined to see it through.
And no inspector is going to pay attention to a local plan which has a dotted line around BCC school with the words "Cultural Quarter" written in it, as if that was sufficient information on which to base planning decisions for Bicester.