City's planning department not fit for purpose - ex-chief - The Worcester Observer

City's planning department not fit for purpose - ex-chief

Worcester Editorial 29th Jan, 2020   0

A FORMER chairman of Worcester City Council’s planning committee has labelled the council’s planning department ‘unfit for purpose’ and claimed it took no notice of local residents.

Coun Alan Amos launched the fierce broadside following a meeting on Thursday (January 23) which saw plans for homes on Malvern Road passed despite an earlier meeting deferring the matter along with reasons for possible refusal.

The Bedwardine councillor told the Observer he had always acted on growing concerns about the department in private but had decided to speak out following what he called a ‘disastrous’ meeting of planning chiefs.

“That meeting perversely voted to overturn a decision – made by committee only a few weeks before, with nothing having changed – to refuse permission to demolish a large beautiful house in Malvern Road and build a monstrous block of flats and concrete over the garden,” Coun Amos said.




“The officer was allowed to speak three times – even in the middle of a vote – in favour of reversing the decision and I was prevented from questioning the developer on what he had said.

“I also raised the issue of an earlier decision being overturned by officers on January 2 hoping nobody would notice and its recent decision to allow KFC on the Elgar Retail Park in Warndon to chop off some trees which had Tree Preservation Orders on them.


“This is despite KFC being found guilty only a few years ago of illegally chopping down trees in exactly the same locations,” he added.

Coun Amos, who chaired the committee in 2015, said he now had no confidence in Worcester planning, which is clearly unfit for purpose.

“It seems to be acting as nothing more than an agent for developers whilst the views of local residents – in whose interests they should be operating and whose communities are being destroyed by these decisions  – are completely ignored and overlooked.

In response to Coun Amos’s claims, a City Council spokesman said: “There is an agreed procedure which is followed if members of the Planning Committee are considering voting to refuse an application which has been recommended for approval.

“The committee votes to defer the application on the basis they are minded to refuse the application and there will then be a further report to a subsequent meeting.

“This examines the grounds for refusal in detail and gives a professional opinion on whether the council would be able to defend an appeal.

“After considering the second report the committee then votes to either refuse or grant permission. This procedure was agreed by the committee in 2008 and was reviewed in 2018, when the committee agreed to continue with it.

“With regard to the trees at Elgar Retail Park, the Council is currently considering whether enforcement action is required.”

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