Planning Appraisal Review - TrustNews June 07
Most members of the Trust will be aware that the Trust inspects every planning application made in the city and makes comments on many of them. You are probably not aware of the amount of work involved in this process. A review of the process was recently carried out by three trustees, David Marklew, Antony Skinner and Keith Leaman. The Trust Council is now seeking more members who might assist in the process.
The planning appraisals are a fundamental part of the Trust's work and have been for many years. The City Council respects the Trust's views and takes them into account when making planning decisions. The appraisals are carried out every week by panels of four Trust members composed of a non practising architect and lay members. There are twelve members who regularly do this task aided by a number of reserve panel volunteers. Shione Carden chairs and runs the planning appraisal process with great commitment and dedication which impinges considerably on her personal and family life. The planning appraisal work is also a growing commitment for all the group members.
The panel's comments are carefully composed and are rarely challenged by members but it is inevitable that they are questioned from time to time. The comments need to be (and almost always are) robust to such challenges. There has been some concern that the Trust can appear to be very negative because usually only its criticisms and objections receive any publicity. To correct this view, more complete statistical information will now be provided with the summary of comments which are provided to the Trust Council and through the website, annual report etc. This will now include: total number of applications considered, number deemed not to require a comment, number of "comments" and number of "objections". This will put the number of actual objections in context. The Trust very rarely formally "supports" planning applications. It is felt that a proposal would have to be truly exceptional to receive the Trust's wholehearted support because the opinions of the membership are so varied. Each month the panels consider on average about 100 planning applications. In the most recent month, April, which was a quiet month because of Easter, 50 applications were considered. The Trust formally objected to 7 of these and commented on a further 20.
There currently appear to be enough volunteers, both architects and lay members, to provide the four members required each week. It is important that Panel members live in a variety of locations throughout the area to avoid bias and this is currently the case. However many of these members have been doing this task for many years and a succession of new volunteers is needed. Shione Carden administers the whole procedure for the groups including preparing the rota, arranging the accommodation for weekly meetings, ordering the planning files for the panel meetings, briefing the chairmen etc. She also keeps detailed records of the Trust's comments on all the applications. Nevertheless much of the knowledge and all the expertise in using this data lies with Shione herself.
The review raised no fundamental concerns about the process or the outcomes. However there is concern that the process is very dependent on Shione Carden and the Trust needs to provide her with more back up and support and ultimately to find a new leader for the group in the not too distant future. Any Trust members who feel they could help with planning appraisal, either reviewing planning applications or assisting with the administration should contact Shione Carden on 01 962 863 005