“Growing frustration” over planning application process

By Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter

“A growing frustration” on how planning applications are being dealt with by Powys County Council (PCC) is being felt in parts of Montgomeryshire, community councillors were told.

Guilsfield Community Council (GCC) Chairman, Cllr Ian Harrison, provided an update at the latest meeting on the formal complaint the council lodged with PCC over the way they had handled a planning application in the village.

In October 2020, PCC’s planning committee approved an outline planning application to build nine homes at the former Fairview garage in the middle of Guilsfield.

GCC thought that the application was on hold due to the Covid-19 crisis, and had not given PCC an opinion on the scheme before it was decided.

GCC meetings were suspended from March to September, and during that time members had not met to discuss the application, which had also been submitted to PCC in March.

But PCC responded to criticism by saying that the community council was emailed a week before the planning meeting and had been given sufficient time to consider the application.

Cllr Harrison told councillors that a formal complaint had been lodged before their last meeting on Thursday, December 16 and he was awaiting a reply.

Cllr Harrison, said: “You will have noted that a resident of Montgomery is currently taking Powys planners to judicial review over maladministration of a separate planning application, there were articles in the local press very recently.”

Cllr Harrison was referring to a detailed planning application for a two-storey three-bedroom house with detached garages at Pwll Farm, Hendomen, near Montgomery.

It has recently been given planning approval by Powys planners. Hendomen resident Bruce Lawson has applied for a judicial review of the decision.

Cllr Harrison added: “Our own case was mentioned, there does appear to be a growing frustration to how planning applications are actually treated, certainly in this part of the county.”

After the application had been approved, GCC had explored the possibility of holding a judicial review into the decision. But the council was advised that the legal route would be costly.

At the PCC planning committee meeting on October 1, councillors were told that GCC, on finding out the application would be dealt with that day, had corresponded with the planning officers overnight.

GCC explained that members understood they had more time to discuss the application.

Lead planning professional officer Peter Morris was sympathetic to the difficulties faced by community councils holding meetings through the Covid-19 lockdown, but stressed that GCC had enough time to submit a response.

Mr Morris also told councillors that the planning case officer that GCC had initially dealt with had left PCC at the end of May.

Mr Morris said: “I was always making the point to community councils that you may struggle to meet, but that does not stop you providing comments.

“We have a paying customer here that wants us to make a decision.”