WNC Planning do not think it would be unreasonable to wait till 2029 to determine the Shacks Barns / Podium / AL4 planning application. This is the weird reply I received when I asked them recently to take this application to committee with a recommendation for refusal.
They have said in reply :-
The site is allocated for development during the Plan period, which runs until 2029. Therefore, approval/delivery any time within the next 4-5 years would not be unreasonable.
Some background:-
The planning application for Podium / Shacks Barnes (AL4) was submitted 16 December 2020. It has not progressed as we approach the 4th anniversary!
https://wnc.planning-register.co.uk/Planning/Display/S/2020/2337/MAO
In August 2023 I wrote to WNC Planning Department to ask that they bring this to Committee with a recommendation for refusal. My reasoning is that after all this time they have failed to sort the traffic issues, are unlikely to sort these out and there must come a time to end this.
If the applicants wish to appeal that decision, that is their right. It is also their right to put an appeal in any day they wish on the grounds of non-determination by WNC and have not done so. What does that tell you?
The August 2023 reply from Planning was that they would not take this to committee arguing that it would be counter productive
We would only likely end up with the application being re-submitted in the near future, with the Council having to undertake extensive work of re-registering the application, sending out consultations, taking it to committee a second time, etc. With such an application likely being submitted as a ‘free go’, the Council would not receive any renumeration for this self-inflicted additional work and strain on resources.
A re-submitted application would also mean local objectors (of which there have been hundreds) would have to re-submit the representations, which many may either not be aware of, or feel included to do.
Hastily seeking a refusal now could result in the application being appealed (with outstanding highway matters being concluded during the appeal – which Inspectors often allow), which would take the decision-making control out of WNC’s hands. This could mean we may not be able to secure some of the constraints/conditions on the future development we would otherwise be able to impose by positively determining ourselves.
To do so could be considered contrary to the Council’s obligation to work proactively with applicants.
The Planning Dept further stated that under the National Planning Rules they had a duty to work pro actively with applicants on sites like these that are allocated in the local plan. They expected this application to do to Committee by December 2023.
Nothing visible has happened since. In September 2024 I wrote again to Planning stating that another year had gone by, the December 23 expectation had passed and been missed, the DHL site had been recently refused and it was now time to bring this one to Committee with a recommendation for refusal.
Alas, Planning live in an alternative universe to mere mortals like myself. They are sticking by their reasoning of August 2023 .
The application does continue to move forward at a slow pace, though some progress has been made in the past 12 months.
Whilst I appreciate the frustration at the time being taken (which is mainly down to the time the applicant takes to respond/make submissions), my position and reasons for not seeking to take the application to Committee are the same as set out in my previous email below.
I would like to get the application determined promptly as much as anyone. However, refusing the application because it is taking too long would be counterproductive for WNC and would not make the threat of large-scale development evaporate for concerned local residents.
The site is allocated for development during the Plan period, which runs until 2029. Therefore, approval/delivery any time within the next 4-5 years would not be unreasonable.
I, alongside colleagues in WNC Highways, continue to work to progress the application as swiftly as we are able.