Quarterly meeting notes
Meeting notes from the Quarterly meeting at City Hall on July 31st, which focussed on Housing and housing standards have been uploaded to the website read more
Please let me have any suggestions for future topics.
The next meeting is Thursday 16 October 5.30 – 7.00 pm in Brunel House, as City Hall is being refurbished.
PLEASE NOTE: As the new arrangements in Brunel House mean that the meeting room size is smaller than the reception area which we previously used, it will be important to ensure that we have capacity for everyone who wants to come, so I will be asking you to let me know whether you wish to attend nearer the time.
Pre Application Community Involvement IMPORTANT UPDATE
When a developer makes a pre application enquiry to the BCC planning department, the case officer draws up a response setting out the planning policy, and the advice from other council departments such as Highways.
The pre application enquiry is now a stand alone process; it is paid for separately rather than being offset against the planning application fee. The developer therefore is more likely to expect to be able to rely on the planning officer’s response in drawing up his design, as he has paid for it on top of the normal fee.
Therefore if the residents’ planning group can get their views included in the case officer’s response it is bound to have more impact than trying to affect the design at a later meeting.
This means that it is even more important to talk to the developer as early as you can, to understand what is proposed and to raise any issues. Asking a developer to wait until they can attend a regular eg monthly meeting may not be the best way of ensuring that the design will take account of the community’s views.
NOTE: The case officer’s response is not a confidential document and the relevant residents’ planning group may request a copy of the response.