by Ray George
The 2nd November meeting of the Southampton Federation of Residents’ Associations was on “Does Planning Matter? ”. Alan Sayle of the City Council’s Development Control Department outlined the process of deciding planning applications. 60% of applications are of a kind that can be decided by the officers themselves. For the remainder, the officers prepare reports for the Development Control Panel. The meetings are usually on a Tuesday and reports are available on the Thursday before. After a report has been presented verbally, objectors can address the panel (at the discretion of the chair). Letters from objectors are not circulated but the officers draw out the planning considerations in their reports. The process is quasi-judicial, only certain things can be taken into account e.g. not “It will devalue my property”. Colin Campbell of the Planning Policy Department explained what had to be considered when coming to a decision. The law says that the greatest weight should be given to the Local Plan. There is also central government planning policy in the form of guidance notes and circulars, and the Structure Plan. The City Council itself produces about thirty planning guidance notes.