Dear all I would urge you , if you have the time to look at this document and make comment upon it.
My comments appear below and you might get the impression that I am not happy. I am not and this is not a Political post it is a comment upon the draft statement, but there are some who apparently say everything I post is Political.
Comments on The Draft Statement of community involvement
I will keep my comments brief and to the point
The Draft is silent as far as I can determine on how comments from Parish and Town Councils are treated is respect to delegated decisions. It is almost silent on how delegated decisions are made other than an oblique reference to a 230 page document linked at para 78. My understanding is that District Councillor can ask for a decision to be brought before the DMC but if a parish or Town does, this request can be ignored ( Helen Mellors)
Whilst we make several and numerous references to the importance of Local Plans. The fact that we are part of the JCS right now, and have no 5 year Housing supply, ( Broadland 's fault) means that a developer can ignore all the policies and plans they want and basically get carte blanche approval . It undermines this document totally.
How will this statement actually be used if as promised in the Queen’s speech large Planning development will get ‘permission in principle’. ( Para 10 and 11) It makes a nonsense of this document which will be in effect be meaningless and further undermine the input of local knowledge championed at para 1. This is even admitted at para 11 in the final sentence.
The charge for Households to seek Planning guidance at para 73 is not mentioned, a clear omission.
Whilst I like the sentiments of para 1 clearly ignoring parish and Town comments is directly contradictory.
Para 16 waxes on about sustainable development. So does para 43. Can we have a workable definition please because according to the Plannng Inspectorate following recent appeals it is okay drive 5 miles to the nearest shop, have no school places, a bus that calls once a week and a train once day! How can this be sustainable by any definition?
The Councils declared commitment to Equality is welcomed, ( para 18 – 21) BUT how will this work in practice. We are seeing fancy ponds and stone walkways in recent developments but these are not wheelchair friendly and can we not have a proper impact assessment carried out for each development. This area is much more than just making it available to read. The development has to be user friendly by Law !!
Para 22 – 23 . What does a person do if the Councillor , expresses a view that they do not agree with your comments and as such will not progress your comments? ( Yes it does happen)
Para 28 ‘The Council’s decisions to approve or refuse any development which needs planning permission must be made in accordance with the policies in the Local Plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise.’
Unless you say what ‘material considerations’ you mean, this single sentence can undermine the whole point of a local plan and this document.
Para 60 makes the very wide presumption that we will all have the internet with wonderful download speeds. I would love to have proper download speeds but they are not available and will not be so for sometime to come. This whole paragraph is about YOU saving money NOT consultation.
Para 64 Presumption that we have Public Transport !!
http://www.south-norfolk.gov.uk/planning/293.asp comments to be received by 15th July
What is the point of putting a huge amount of resources into providing another Local Plan if it is in effect, meaningless and lame. They have just finished the previous one and that has not protected communities from speculative developers.
This Statement of Community Involvement Consultation is about how they consult and engage with the public and other stakeholders on planning matters like the formulation of their Local Plan which, let's face it, hasn't worked well so far. We engage and respond to the Local Plan's public consultations to be promptly ignored . The irony of it!!
