A letter of complaint which really seemed to work ....
This letter was sent in by Mrs. P. K. Hickey, a member of the PAGAM Committee on the 1st. February 2017 who decided that the dates to have letters of objection in by, were by no means long enough for the average person to get to grips with the sheer weight of information being presented, (and multiply that by 3 developments !) so asked for clarification on an extension to the dates people were being told, which all seemed to differ ... the reply, quite illuminating, is underneath her letter and sets the record straight from the Director of Planning ... Mr. Karl Roberts.
Note .. the italics in the document refer to the foreword of the National Planning Policy Framework, the full document can be accessed on our "Links" page, is 51 pages long and is the "bible" of Planning Authorities.
Dear Sir
The residents of Aldwick, Pagham through the co-ordinating PAGAM focus group (www.pagam.uk) have asked that the cut off date for receiving letters of objection to P/134/16/OUT and P140/16/OUT be extended in line with the extension requested by Pagham Parish Council, for the following reasons :
a) The addition of Summer Lane South (Bartons Farm) to the Sefter Lane development has added a level of complexity to the investigation of the documents that have been submitted by the developers as planning applications.
b) The sheer size of some of the documents (Traffic Consultations) are over 700 pages long and have required the residents to try and find suitable professional people who are capable of disseminating the data into a format that can be understand more readily by residents.
c) Both Arun District Council and West Sussex County Council have the advantage in having professionally competent staff whose job it is to understand and dissect these tomes. The residents do not easily have that facility.
d) The residents would find it unacceptable if the above request was rejected, implying that the needs of the local community are being ignored which is in contravention of the statement made in the Ministerial foreword of The National Planning Policy Framework by Rt. Hon. Greg Clark MP Minister for Planning which states (direct copy from the document) :
This should be a collective enterprise. Yet, in recent years, planning has tended to
exclude, rather than to include, people and communities. In part, this has been a
result of targets being imposed, and decisions taken, by bodies remote from them.
Dismantling the unaccountable regional apparatus and introducing neighbourhood
planning addresses this.
In part, people have been put off from getting involved because planning policy
itself has become so elaborate and forbidding – the preserve of specialists, rather
than people in communities.
e) The cumulative effect of the developments at both these sites has the potential to dramatically alter the way that Pagham and Aldwick perceives itself as a place that had been chosen for people to move to, and enjoy its simple pleasures. These developments might destroy that very ethos and have a detrimental effect on its residents.
We need a reassurance that our wishes, aspirations and needs are not being ignored in this process, hence our respectful request that these existing deadlines as listed on your website are extended.
Your comments would be appreciated, and would be communicated to the residents of Pagham and Aldwick.
Yours Sincerely
Mrs. P. K. Hickey Committee Member PAGAM Group
cc. Pagham and Aldwick Clerks of the Council (also emailed to karl.roberts@arun.gov.uk)
This is the official response from Mr. Karl Roberts then Director of Planning (now Director of Place) a title that appears to confuse most residents in how it should be interpreted, and the puzzle thus continues ....
" The period of time we set out in our formal notice for representations to be submitted is a minimum period , not a maximum. In theory therefore it is possible for representations to be submitted right up to the date of determination, although I would strongly recommend against doing that, it doesn’t delay any decision making. Obviously, the later it is submitted, the less time there is available to consider the representations received, and include reference to any points raised in the reports that will be drafted. In this case none of the three applications submitted will be considered before the planning committee (currently scheduled for the 26th April). Therefore I would encourage anyone wishing to submit a representation to do so by the 1st April. "
I trust this is helpful. Please feel free to place these comments as set out above on your website.
Regards
Karl Roberts
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