Is the Housing Minister one of Santa’s Elves?
Tis’ the Christmas season and, as a planning geek, the anticipation I am experiencing about the new NPPF is comparable to that of a five-year old on Christmas eve…
I have smelled the box, I have felt the box, and I have even picked up the box and gave it a little shake to see if I can figure out what is inside it… and I think the only thing I have deduced so far is that Local Plans are here to stay and Govey said all Councils MUST make a Local Plan to “protect” themselves. I do also believe that there is currently only one Local Plan at inspection… Sooo, any Councillor reading this, get out your writing mittens and call for your sharpest quill and get writing and MAKE A PLAN!
Anyway, to continue with the Christmas metaphor and waiting for things to happen, I thought I would look at the other presents and baubles and the fairy on top of the tree.
This is where Housing Minister number 14/16 Lee Rowley (henceforth known as “Lil’ Lee the bruiser”) comes in. I read with great interest that Lil’ Lee has passed a planning application for 2,100 new homes in West London. The LPA wrote it up for an approval and the Secretary of State called it in.
It then went to an inspector who, amongst other things, said: “scale, massing, design and townscape / streetscape impact” would have a “significant material adverse impact on the character and appearance of the surrounding area generally” and that this harm “cannot be overcome by conditions” and it would “conflict, in this regard, with the relevant policies and guidance”.
The scheme would be “neither visually attractive nor sympathetic to local character and does not represent good design in its context”, and the inspector found that the benefits therefore did not “outweigh the totality of the harms” with a conclusion that the “proposals, taken together, would, as a consequence of the shortcomings of the development, conflict with the development plan taken as a whole and that the applications should not succeed”.
The inspector then duly recommended a refusal…
However, this view was not shared by Lil’ Lee!
He said that substantial weight should be attributed to the “regeneration of under-utilised brownfield land” and the delivery of up to 2,150 homes, including 750 affordable homes “designed to meet the current housing need profile…”. He added that the economic benefits of the scheme carry significant weight, he said, “whilst the provision of open space and significant biodiversity net gain both carry moderate weight”.
Well will I never! And there I thought No16 was going to be the Grinch who stole Christmas and it turns out his is actually one of Santa’s little Elves!
Now I just hope that when we open our NPPF box we were all good little boys and girls and Govey gives us something nice and not just a lump of coal!
Enjoy your Christmas parties and remember to keep moderation in mind!
Henry