“Sustainability” and Planning Blight
In view of the concerns over additional house building around the town, the Government’s proposals to exploit its ‘Localism’ Bill to promote ‘a presumption of approval of sustainable development’ has particular significance.
The very fact of the vagueness of this momentous terminology is sinister, allowing commentators on all sides to see in it both the best and the worst of possible interpretations. My own suspicion is that its true meaning is being smoke-screened in Whitehall, to fudge the differences of objective on either side of the argument. Most Whitehall illogicalities are the result of either Cock-up or Conspiracy: in this case I would go for the Conspiracy explanation. Those responsible want to please all of their political masters with an all-purpose form of words, without coming down on one side or the other.
The dangerous result will be that the housing developers and their lawyers will have a field day, tying the planning regulations into knots and costing the Council planners more than we can afford to oppose their Applications. In the Kennet days the going rate to fight a Planning Appeal was £50,000 a time, and nowadays Wiltshire is much less well funded.
What I believe the Government want us to think, is that ‘there should be a presumption in favour of any development being sustainable’, rather than that ‘there should be a presumption in favour of any development and that it should be sustainable’, which is a very different matter. However neither phrase is tough enough to withstand the aggressive lawyers used by the developers.
The draft Core Strategy for Devizes suggests 408 houses already permitted but not yet built, plus 569 more houses for the town over the period to 2026. Meanwhile most local opinion believes that the Town’s infrastructure has been stretched to breaking point by too many new houses built in recent years. The Strategy recommends no more new large ‘Strategic Sites’, so the additional ones are expected to be scattered around smaller sites in the town, although developers like Merchant Venturers and MacTaggarts are already making warning noises about challenging this to suit their own plans.
The developer contributions process is flawed: in theory, the housebuilders will be expected to deal with the deficit of infrastructure by their contributions under Planning Section 106 agreements and under the new Community Infrastructure Levy. Unfortunately the history of 106 contributions in Devizes is not encouraging. Their expenditure is not planned which often makes their outcome trivial and pointless, and they do not get fitted into a coherent infrastructure plan which can be carried out before the new housing is completed.
Recent examples have been the curious highway lighting on the Horton Road; and the new London Road bus stop arrangements, which have to be finalised by October otherwise the Council loses the money to carry them out. These are not thoughtful or timely contributions to the Town’s capability to accept new housing estates; they are more akin to a tax on the developer.
The proposed new estates, plans for which are already being drawn up by the housebuilders, should be preceded by an adequate framework of infrastructure improvements prepared in advance. This framework should be specified in advance, in such a way that it can be parcelled out among the separate developers and financed piecemeal, whilst fitting into an overall plan.
This is a demanding task which the Council’s planning resources would find quite difficult to carry out quickly, and the developers’ lawyers will not hang about in pursuing their Planning Appeals against refusal of building consents.
Devizes Guardians
NEW GUARDIANS TOWN COUNCILLOR: Roger Giraud-Saunders
Having been rather swept along by the tide of events, I now find myself elected as a Devizes Guardians Town Councillor for the Devizes East Ward. I’m glad we made it happen, as an extra member on the TC alters the balance of power in such a way that the “governing body” might not find things going all their own way in the future.
My thanks are offered to all those who worked towards our success, especially the voters who offered me their support at the ballot box.
The challenge now is to get a grip on all the issues in current circulation, which is tricky without being familiar with the background, but I don’t think it will be all that long before I feel able to make my voice heard at Council. Issues that arise in the future will obviously be easier as I will be in at the start.
There’s a lot to learn, but having the support of the other Guardian councillors will hopefully make the learning curve less exponential. There are, as I’m sure you’re all aware, many problems facing Devizes from many directions. The task we as Guardians face is to mitigate the potential of harm to the town where we can, or, even better, remove the threat altogether.
Roger Giraud-Saunders
DEVIZES GUARDIANS ANNUAL PUBLIC MEETING
Everyone is invited to attend the AGM which is to be held on Wednesday, 2nd November 2011 at 7.30pm in Devizes Town Hall (Cheese Hall). The formalities will be followed by an open discussion of the new Localism Bill, which is designed to give developers a free hand, and any other policy matters which members wish to air.
Judy Rose, Honorary Secretary
MEMBERSHIP
Many thanks to all of you who responded to the recent membership subscriptions request. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all our Guardians supporters for the Town Council by-election success we enjoyed recently. The Guardians are entirely dependent on membership fees and personal and Committee donations for all the monies needed to maintain our organisation and to fight elections. For readers who are not yet Guardians Members, but who would like to support us more actively, there is an application form below.
Tony Duck, Membership Secretary
SUPPORTING DEVIZES GUARDIANS
Guardians membership costs £10 per year per person. Our members receive our newsletters delivered directly to their home. Whether an existing or a new member, we would like to keep postage costs down by emailing details of forthcoming consultations and meetings.
Please allow us to update our records by printing and filling in the form and returning it to:
Devizes Guardians
36 Osmund Road
SN10 3GD
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