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Fraudulent planning application
I would welcome some opinions and case law on an application.
Basically they want to build 200 houses on grade 3 farm land and want to use housing land supply shortages under NPPF as a reason.
They have to prove the site is sustainable, however the shops, and facilities are 1400m away by pedestrian route. They have drawn a circle claiming that it is 800m/5 min walk and moved the shop/library/doctors symbols 200m into the circle. The circle is actually 1000m and matches the 1km OS grid.
This formed part of the public consultation (which is required by law), and the application and is repeatedly quoted in the application. In one document it quotes the district center as being 600m
I am also wondering about the best tactics to use
1. A details objection within the 3 week period
2. A simple objection about the distance to the shops within the three week period and then a detailed objection just before it goes to planning committee
3. Ask the planning office to withdraw the application as the consultation and application was based on falsified documents
Many thanks Tony
Basically they want to build 200 houses on grade 3 farm land and want to use housing land supply shortages under NPPF as a reason.
They have to prove the site is sustainable, however the shops, and facilities are 1400m away by pedestrian route. They have drawn a circle claiming that it is 800m/5 min walk and moved the shop/library/doctors symbols 200m into the circle. The circle is actually 1000m and matches the 1km OS grid.
This formed part of the public consultation (which is required by law), and the application and is repeatedly quoted in the application. In one document it quotes the district center as being 600m
I am also wondering about the best tactics to use
1. A details objection within the 3 week period
2. A simple objection about the distance to the shops within the three week period and then a detailed objection just before it goes to planning committee
3. Ask the planning office to withdraw the application as the consultation and application was based on falsified documents
Many thanks Tony
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She then effectively recommended acceptance in her report. I then found the badger sett, found DEFRAS land classification map (good farm land) photographed the "nice walk" to the shops, back garden fences, derilict school, two subways, abandoned car
She then had to rewrite her report in the 4 days before the planning hearing. We won, but because they took over 13 weeks they have appealed.
Now a second developer has started on the next set of fields. Fair simple planning process doesn't work here... It's war!
Come on , I need serious help here!
Official letters to the councils complaints departments, also at council meetings people are quite often allowed to speak so try and get into as many general/planning meetings and see if you can formally speak and as such its on the minutes etc, issue FOI requests about the issue etc.
Best things is to be a right royal pain in the arse, stand for the councillors post in the affected area on the issue (only need a few people to start it off)
Normally I would go to see the planning officer and point out any anomalies or inaccuracies on the plans. They've been quite open to that here. I'm talking about the south east too.
Have you thought about getting a planning consultant on board? I've used one in the past when I wasn't sure how to proceed or what the chances were of the plans being approved or refused. It was helpful in getting a realistic handle on things.
I wasn't suggesting they do, I was suggesting ways of mobilising local support ~ mind you if you are naturally abrasive that might not work.
I don't know anything about case law but have defeated 2 planning applications, one on appeal, as part of residential opposition groups, however not the type of applic you are dealing with. One of mine was opposing a one storey extension from an out of town landlord and the other opposing BT over erecting a microwave transmitter. We slaughtered BT!
Key to both victories was the number of residents opposing the applic and their commitment, as was the support of a prominent local councillor in both cases, a Cabinet Minister for the BT applic and our MP for the landlord.
Also I spent countless hours researching, looking at how other protest groups had won, and if they had lost, why, and really studying all the aspects in depth so I could build a watertight case and get everyone on board and reading from the same script.
Really it's hard to advise you what to do as detailed local knowledge is required for a development like this as well as an understanding of the issues involved, the state of the political will, and the local and national planning laws that apply. Also how much is at stake financially and how far down the line the developers will go in order to achieve their ends.
As they are playing dirty then that makes things simple in a way as the gloves are off and you can play dirty too, dirtier than the opposition. Have no mercy for them because they will show no mercy to you. I always play to win and you should too.
Can I ask whether it is only you who is going around finding the badger setts and other stuff to undermine their case? When you say 'we', who is we? Is it the majority of residents who don't want the development? Have you taken a petition round? Do the residents have regular meetings to discuss the plan of action, presuming you have a plan that is, or are you the co-ordinator and visit the residents individually?
Have you a local councillor who is well thought of and has had success standing up for residents and winning victories, who can tell you how to organise yourselves and what you need to do?
If you have strong support from the local community have you spoken to your MP? Have you been able to guage whether the local or national press/media is sympathetic to your cause or whether you are fighting a losing battle?
Have you been in touch with or read up about residential groups who have battled with developers in similar situations to yours? What is the strength of the opposition and do they have anyone influential in their back pockets? Do you have anyone influential in your back pocket?
They wouldn't no but you would be surprised at the amount of Councillors who see these groups set up on Facebook and actually respond to posts made in them.
There is a 2006 local plan and 7 years housing has been approved but only 4.5 years is being proceeded with. The rest has been land banked or has other issues.
There is a new local plan emerging with 20 years land supply however the developers have chalanged it.
These developers have grabbed that opportunity to try and get thier planning applications in on sites rejected from the emerging local plan, whilst the 5 year housing land supply appears to be not met. (By land banking permissions)
This land is active farm land, (grade 3A) there are derilict fields and horse grazing fields that can be used in priority, there isn't much brownfield land in our local authority area.
Almost every thing that goes to appeal is overturned by Eric Pickles.
Housing is available nearby at £155k for a modest 3 bed with parking and small garden. Developers want £350 for a 3 bed
There is a housing shortage partly because developers want sites that they can start on from scratch - i.e. greenfield is easier from their point of view. That does not mean that greenfield is right - many greenfield sites have flooding issues and a lack of local amenities.
Building houses is not just about building the houses - you have to consider the wider implications once the house builder has been and gone and made their money.
I have provided a couple of links below and they might be able to advise you on what route to take:
http://planninghelp.cpre.org.uk
http://www.rtpi.org.uk/planning-aid/
On the first site we did that, they just mitigated every objection. We reported badgers. They provided witness statements stating the badgers had not been there for over 10 years.
We said the shops were too far, they provided a description of a beutiful safe street lit walk... The thing is it's not street lit, it's not visible from houses it's got litter every meter once you hit the city limit. There was an abandoned car, no tax, crashed on a pedestrian crossing left there a week. A school abandoned waiting development with drinkers using the grounds. We provided Google Earth pictures of the farm with a combine and three tractor trailer unis collecting the harvest, yet the planner said it was poor and derilict land.
It was only the very late submissions in the last days they won it. The planners were determined to pass it. They were quite embarrassed to change thier recommendation.
The point I am trying to make was a last min ambush was far more effective than timely submissions.
I agree you need a show of people, a show of objections, petitions don't work as people then think they have done thier bit and don't get round to objecting. But, technical objections on planning policy count.
I have been trying without success to find the application. From looking at your previous threads I guessed you are in the Southampton area, but looking at the CPRE South East Hampshire website and newsletters I couldn't see any campaigns. I looked at a couple of Hampshire proposed developments PDFs and local newspaper articles as well, from a Google search for a development of 200 houses on Grade 3 farmland under NPPF, but no results stated 200 houses exactly. Is it the Test Valley?
Reading your last post I would agree that ambush is a very effective tactic and one that we used with success against BT, who we had convinced at a site meeting that our opposition was without substance and therefore they chose not to bring in an expert to speak at the planning meeting. We did and it was the last thing BT were expecting.
Also I disagree that petitions don't work. For the BT applic I was unaware of the applic until the co-ordinator came round to ask for my signature on the petition, and it was because of this that I became involved. At the council meeting there were about 40 residents who had signed the original petition who attended to object.
I personally took the petition round for the out of town landlord extension applic and when the landlord launched the appeal I then contacted and persuaded nearly half of the petition signatories to write letters to or email the planning inspectorate.
The town I used to live in has quite an active Facebook group and all the local councillors and the town mayor are in it and will read, respond to and act on issues that come up.
Believe it or not, under planning law, a petition, no matter how many signatures you have on it, only counts as one objection!
1000 signatures on a petition has a lot less clout than 1000 letters from the same people.
Your best bet is to do a standard letter of objection and then get people to sign them individually. You can still submit all the letters together
Just out of interest, do you have any direct experience that a standard letter individually signed, carries as much weight as individual letters? It would be useful to know this in case I get involved in any more planning disputes, although I tend to keep a low profile these days. Still, you never know what's round the corner.
You are probably not the best person to lead a public campaign against this if you are so abrasive towards people offering genuinely helpful advice.
It is true that a petition counts as one objection. Our group objection was counted as 122 objections from 65 addresses.
We did go door to door, we set up a closed Facebook page, we got 4 estate agent boards made up. We had 1000 flyers printed booked the community hall. Total cost £120
We submitted 3 articles to the parish news. We attended the MayFare and had our gazebo take off and fly across the field.
The group objection educated people beyond the basic 2 point argument of traffic and countryside.
As to the point of me being rude, it's a plea for help! There are many educated people down our street. doctors, consultants professors etc, etc with a house hold income 10x ours. Development 1 has 1500 pages of submissions, development 2, 1000 pages so far.
I am a dislexic and my submissions are being checked by a Gent from the West Indies who has better English than me. The educated people have not done much!
I do have some experience in mapping, planning as an engineer, and basic tools. Camera PC iPad measuring wheel. I am also caring for two people.
Of course the applicant will come up with all sorts of thing. What matters is that you set out your (planning) grounds for objection. It is for the planning officer and the sub-committee members to decide. They are not stupid.
If you want 'tactics', last minute stuff is not the ticket. The best 'tactic' is to have a very large number of objectors. But that is still not nearly as good as having strong planning grounds for the objection.