Petition for Amendment of the National Planning Policy Framework
Dear Clerk to the Council,
As you will be aware, the effects of the NPPF are now beginning to filter down into the community and are having an effect on planning decisions and, in particular, on the shape and destiny of market towns, villages and the open countryside. In our area of Cheshire East we are very concerned by the rash of unwanted development which is starting to disfigure our settlements and our landscape.
Nationally, a large proportion of major development schemes which fail to gain approval from local councils are granted permission at appeal. In our area, as in more than 50% of the country, we are aware that this situation is exacerbated by the tardiness of our Local Plan, but we also recognise that even where a Local Plan is in place the provisions of the NPPF, in particular the supremacy of “sustainability,” overrides all other considerations. The definition of this concept is vague and local people, including planning committees, are having grave difficulties countering the claims of developers in respect of this. In Cheshire East there is a feeding-frenzy with developers stockpiling permissions and the end result will be unsightly over-development. This is in spite of the fact that Cheshire East has not been ungenerous in the allocation of land for development in the Local Plan. We know that this experience is not at all uncommon throughout the country.
Many areas of our towns, our villages, and the adjoining countryside are not places of national importance in the strict legal sense, but they are cherished by local people for their beauty and their recreational value. The incursion of some of this aggressive and insensitive development is very much resented by many in our communities but local voices do not appear to carry much weight in this situation. We are particularly concerned by recent comments from the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which seems to imply that planning regulations may now be relaxed even further in the countryside and the green belt.
We believe that the true impact of the NPPF has not been understood by the people responsible for this legislation and that it is important to persuade the Government to amend it before the damage has gone too far. We have, therefore, joined with other groups in our area to set up a petition to this effect, the details of which are given below. This is a David and Goliath battle but we hope very much that, as the defects of this law become more obvious, awareness will be raised and people will support our efforts. We should like to solicit the support of those who agree with our assessment and should be grateful, therefore if you would pass this on to all the members of your council and, if possible, to the wider community.
Hi Ben,it would appear things are the same everywhere,the rich get richer,even if there schemes are quite misguided and impractical. Here money simply changes hands whether by "campaign contributions" or otherwise an things get done. Once again ordinary people are shunted aside "for the greater good" or so the wise that lead us feel.Bill
ReplyDeleteBig difference here though Bill. US is 39X bigger than the UK. We are already over 10% in developed land area. Take out all the non-productive land and what's left of our farmland and greenbelt is under huge pressure for housing, schools, medical facilities roads etc from the mass immigration policies of the last decade. We don't have the necessary infrastructure to cope with this massive overcrowding and this congestion chokes up the whole economy in a variety of ways. It never ceases to amaze me how England can still account for 9% of the EU agricultural output, but then I suppose we don't have many huge forests like Europe. Henry V111 cut them all down to make ships. The bottom line is we're a small island of 92000 sq miles not much different from your average US state and sometime the urban spread has to stop. Our countryside is renowned for its beauty, variety and accessibility the world over and is one of the reasons we have such a huge tourist economy. We're putting all this in jeopardy by being part of the EU and subject to their freedom of movement laws. Soon millions more Rumanians and Bulgarians will be joining us. The mind boggles. It's all very well arguing that we Brits have the same freedom of travel but it's nearly all one way. Can't get a quart into a pint pot. Personally we're lucky. Where we live we can still drive on quiet rural roads without hassle, but get near any city and it's a different world. It was bad enough thirty years ago but now...Jesus.
ReplyDeleteThe government has brought in a new planning policy now that presumes in favour of new development to speed up the process. It amounts to making it much harder for local objections to override or hold up any unwanted development. In other words when local councils say no, the developer appeals and a government inspector says yes. The cash strapped local authorities don't have the funds to fight back.
The big problem is trying to rouse the apathetic docile average Brit into enough of a frenzy to ditch all the old tribal allegiances and start to think outside the box. I fear we'll need world war 111 to make it happen.
Hi Ben,WW3 wouldn't surprise me nor you I suspect. Europe use to squabble over natural resources, now Asia is where you once were. When I see nations start currency wars I get a little nervous, last time we seen a "real" currency war was right before WW2, I figure it will start in Asia, everyone is arming up and forming alliances, if we get dragged into that mess it will cost a lot of money.Bill
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