Babergh avoids worst effects of National Planning Guidelines

A recent report from the Local Government Information Unit reveals that only 14.7% of planning authorities have, for one reason or another, been able to adopt their local plan since the publication of the National Planning Guidelines.

Babergh is not in this position, having managed to get its plan past the Inspector last year.  This is a good thing because those authorities that do not have an adopted plan in place are particularly vulnerable to being forced to approve planning applications that are inappropriate to their local situation.  This is because the NP guidelines, which are very vague, take precedence over local considerations.

Where local authorities without adopted plans have refused planning permission, and the developer has gone on to appeal, the number of successful appeals has massively increased in percentage terms.  This means that inspectors from Bristol, who have no knowledge of local circumstances, have been able to ride roughshod over the wishes of local people.  I fear that a good deal of English countryside will be blighted by inappropriate schemes as a result, and this is a fear that is shared by the Council for the Preservation of Rural England (CPRE).

The most recent decision at Babergh that went to appeal was the decision to refuse permission for houses on the Fleetwood Caravan site in Long Melford.  I am happy to say that the decision of the planning committee was upheld on appeal.   I wonder if the result would have been the same if we had not managed to get the Local Plan adopted?