Sometimes people are critical of the fact that the County Council (and indeed the District Council from time to time) can be judge and jury in their own case when it comes to planning applications.
The impartiality of the County Council's Development Control Committee showed no signs of weakness this week when members decided to refuse permission for a new secondary school on the Moreton Hall Estate. This facility is needed as part of the schools reorganisation which is going through its final stage in the Bury area at present. The time scale for building the school is tight, and any disruption of the process is likely to be inconvenient.
The case reminds me of the only time that I have spoken at a County Council Development Committee meeting. This was at the end of 2007 when I had just become a District Councillor for Waldingfield. Bretts Aggregates wanted to open up a quarry on County Council land in Chilton on the edge of Great Waldingfield. A concerted campaign to stop this had been organised, and this was covered in some detail on this blog. We campaigners were uncertain of success however due to the fact that it was not in the County's interest to turn down the application, and, indeed the site was clearly designated in its own minerals plan. (Indeed it still is, sadly.)
The application was however thrown out for very good reasons related to road safety on the A 134. At that time the impartiality of the committee impressed me. I am pleased that almost 8 years later the Committee continues to make fair decisions when the county council's own interests are at stake.
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