CLEETHORPES COUNCILLOR WARNS OF PUBLIC 'DISILLUSION' WITH PLANNING SYSTEM

                                                 

Cllr Parkinson - concern

A WARNING has been sounded that some North East Lincolnshire. Council residents have become "disillusioned" with the planning system.

Cllr Bill Parkinson told  a meeting that, when their objections to applications are disregarded or overruled without explanation, they feel "no one is listening".

"They end up thinking  - what’s the point?"

The Cleethorpes councillor's comments came during discussion of a proposal to build nine homes - bungalows and dormers - on a leafy plot off Forest Way in Humberston.

When a similar scheme was submitted last September, there were numerous objections from neighbours concerned about loss of privacy, increased traffic, and destruction of wildlife habitat.

But when the fresh proposal from Cleethorpes builder Craig Davidson was resubmitted at this week’s planning meeting, it emerged that the number of objections had shrunk to just two - both from the same family.

This surprised Cllr Parkinson who revealed that, when he went walkabout, of the area one neighbour to whom he had spoken had been aggrieved at the potential impact on his property of the revised scheme. 

It was then that he made his comment about "disillusion", one which will not have best pleased Engie - the firm that now controls NELC's planning system.

The Grimsby News says: Cllr Parkinson has done well to speak out. It is a longstanding complaint of parish councils as well as residents that, though they are invariably asked to comment on applications, their feedback is promptly ignored. In effect, it has been little more than a box-ticking exercise. Even the authoritative views of NELC's own conservation officer are routinely disregarded. Inevitably, they feel insulted, that their time has been wasted. And there are other questions  about how the planning system operates in this borough. For instance, how effectively - if at all - are planning conditions enforced? By what means are breaches of planning conditions addressed? How many prosecutions for breaches have there been over the past five years? Why are critical documents sometimes withheld from public scrutiny?  Why is Engie allowed to determine its own applications? Why, indeed, is a French-owned private-sector organisation in charge of North East Lincolnshire Council's planning process ? For the integrity of the system and to provide reassurance to the public, it is  high time for an investigation.