Disappointing night at Planning
March 15th, 2011 by Cllr Karen Chilvers
A report back from tonight’s meeting where I had two referrals on the agenda – an extension to the planning permission for an office block in St James Road that will take that up to 2014 and the issue of a fence in Hill Road.
Despite me moving them both for refusal, both were approved by the Tories.
The odd one in St James Road where a six storey block of offices is planned and now, thanks to Tory councillors, is now able to be built any time in the next three years, taking the permission for this up to seven years in all. It’s not quite as bad as the seven storey residential block, but it will still create an overcrowded tunnel effect in the road.
What is odd is that Brentwood West Tory councillor Joan Holmes asserts that residents are all for it – saying that approving this application will stop residential development. Erm, no it will not. Even though there is an approved application on there someone could, tomorrow, turn up and put an application in for residential – one application does not stop another.
I did suggest that a better option would be for the developer to re-design the space and build a smaller development with a play area and become heroes – sadly they didn’t fancy the hero option (much better to built ‘em high and sell them cheap)!
Did the permission include a caveat to provide adequate parking? If it did it would be the first building in ST. James and Wharf Rd. developments that did.
Additionally, apart from the odd campaigning visit, the only councillor we have spoken to on any subject is you.