It’s true that there is a presumption in favour of sustainable development but

It’s also the case that there are (with a few exceptions) often grounds under which members can refuse applications if they wish to do so but they are often not well trained or advised properly on these matters.

Only last month I sat in a a committee where at least half the members said they didn’t like the design of a development but felt they couldn’t refuse it because their officers felt the design was ok. That’s nonsense. Design is subjective, there are always development plan policies that allow schemes to be refused on the basis of poor design and if councillors think the design is poor then they should conclude the scheme is contrary to those policies.

I’m not sure what “forcing it though under s106” means in the post below but many developers at the larger end of the scale end up paying a fortune in s106 or CIL monies and don’t make the sort of profits people think.

Posted By: Jim, Dec 6, 18:51:31