| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Empire House Development | |
| Posted by: | Adam Beamish | |
| Date/Time: | 23/11/14 10:06:00 |
| Sorry all but I think this is getting a little daft - although I mainly act for developers, I sometimes act for objectors too and my advice would always be to focus on genuine/justified areas of concern, as if objectors start trying to pursue some 'pie in the sky' legal challenge it does their credibility no good at all. If a planning application somehow breaches planning laws regarding the validity of the application, that's more an issue for a Council than for an appeal - the Planning Inspectorate is generally loathe to get embroiled in disputes (as part of an appeal) as to whether or not an application should have been validated, so I would actually suggest that trying to pursue such grounds in an appeal scenario would harm the credibility of objectors. The parameters around community involvement are really left to a local planning authority, the national guidance encourages pre-application engagement with the local community, but for validation purposes the statement of community involvement which accompanies major planning applications these days is a local requirement. And I don't think there's any realistic argument that Land Lease didn't satisfy those requirements, they held two exhibitions which were both well atttended (from what I've read on here) so it would be rather silly to suggest otherwise. As an aside sometimes developers are overly cautious in this regard, I was recently involved in a 6 unit scheme in Chiswick where we held a 1/2 day public exhibition, even though LBH itself confirmed when we had a pre-app meeting that it wasn't necessary for us to do so. Regarding the whole local newspaper thing, the requirement to advertise applications for major developments or development within Conservation Areas etc., is set out in the Development Procedure Order, but again that responsibility is completely in the hands of the Council, not a developer, it isn't for a developer to advertise when they have submitted an application, it is for the Council to fulfill it's statutory notification process. |