Residents' Association Forum Meeting...News in Detail

Representatives of your Committee attended the Residents’ Association Forum Meeting organised by Reigate & Banstead Borough Council at the end of October; this meeting included a number of presentations as follows:

DECRIMINALISATION OF PARKING CONTROLS

Control & enforcement of parking restrictions was transferring from the Police to the local authorities across the country. R&BBC took up this responsibility from July 2004.

Surrey County Council is still the local Highway authority and therefore decides where parking restrictions will be applied.

The Borough Council have been monitoring the costs/usage of the new scheme & specific problem areas, during the last four months and it does not appear that the scheme can break-even. Surrey County Council will reimburse the Borough Councils for any excess costs they incur in running the parking scheme.

LOCAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORKS - REVISIONS TO THE PLANNING SYSTEM

This is a central government initiative, aimed at ensuring that planning decisions are made using a “joined-up” approach, i.e. planning decisions take account of other factors such as local transport, NHS, local business activities etc.

R&BBC aim to obtain community involvement in these decisions, but are not sure at the moment how to facilitate this. The aim is for the community to be involved in the planning decision itself, rather than being notified after the decision has been taken.

In order to meet local demand, a 30% increase in housing has been planned across the borough.

Editor’s note:
The South East England Regional Assembly (SEERA) is responsible for strategic planning issues for the South East. SEERA have decided that consultation will take place early next year on three levels of housing growth which could – over a period of 20 years – lead to 590,000, 640,000 or 720,000 additional homes in their area of responsibility; zero growth doesn’t seem to be an option! Of the 111 members of SEERA, “our” interests are served by councillors Dr Lynne Hack (Reigate & Banstead Borough Council) and Nick Skellett (Surrey County Council).

PUBLIC SPEAKING AT PLANNING COMMITTEE - NEW OPPORTUNITIES

Individuals are entitled to raise a planning objection in their own right. They therefore do not have to obtain a minimum of 25 objections in order to launch an appeal.

Agendas for planning meetings are posted on the R&BBC website, at least 5 working days prior to the meeting.

The Public Gallery is available for those who wish to observe the meeting.

PLANNING APPEALS - PROCESS AND THE ROLE OF THIRD PARTIES

Only the applicant can appeal against a planning decision and he/she must submit their appeal within 3 months of the planning decision and 65% of appeals made to R&BBC are dismissed, which is consistent with the national average.

There are 3 methods in which to appeal, available to the applicant:
Written representations (80% of appeals are submitted in this way)
Planning hearing (requiring a number of residents to attend)
Public enquiry (a more formal process) - 60% dismissal rate.

Recommended approach for an objection launched by a Resident Association is to:
Gather information
Develop the case – based on fact (not opinion) and in writing
Remain focused on the issue in hand.

The backlog in appeals is currently standing at 12 months.