Councils 'bullied' by national plans rules

As a result Shirehall planners are having to follow Government guidelines to build more homes rather than follow their own five-year development plan drawn up to meet the county's needs and wishes, it was claimed.

Meanwhile, developers have yet to start work on more than 7,000 approved schemes across the county, while councillors fear they will be hit with a bill for compensation if their decisions to reject planning applications are overturned by the Government on appeal.

At the heart of the matter is the Site Allocations and Management of Development (SAMDev) Plan for future housebuilding and employment land in the county. Although this is being developed by Shropshire Council, it is not yet finalised – and because of this planners say they must follow the Government's National Planning Policy Framework guidelines instead.

Last week members of Shropshire Council's north planning committee reluctantly granted permission for five housing developments – all of which were opposed by local residents. They involved 35 homes and commercial units on land off Tedsmore Road, West Felton near Oswestry, 10 bungalows south of Old Mapsis Way, Morda, 14 houses off Pear Tree Lane, Chester Road, Whitchurch, 25 homes on land at The Vicarage, Tilstock, and 21 houses off London Road, Woore. Most of the applications were for land outside traditional planning development zones.

Earlier this month Councillor Stuart West, vice-chairman of Shropshire Council's south planning committee, said it was being "bullied" by the Government as plans for 200 homes outside Shifnal's development boundary were approved.

The initial SAMDev blueprint was unveiled in March 2012 and included proposals to build 16,000 homes in the county by 2026.

Councillor Vernon Bushell, chairman of the central planning committee, which covers the Shrewsbury area, said: "I know SAMDev hasn't been passed yet but lots of hours have gone into officers meeting members of the public in various places. A lot of work has been done. It must appear to the general public that it is being ignored."

He said the prospect of developers taking the council to appeal, where costs can be awarded against the authority if a decision to refuse an application is reversed, was influencing councillors' decisions.

"We shouldn't be considering compensation when we are debating on a planning application. But we are. It is in the back of the mind," he said. Something has got to be done at a national level.

Councillor Pauline Dee, of the north planning committee, said: "We are being overruled by central government." She said the Government's Localism Bill, which promised to give people more say on the issues that affect them, had failed to make a difference. She said: "It is not worth the paper it is written on. This is not just happening in Shropshire. All over the country localism is being overruled."

More than 60 people attended last week's north planning committee meeting at Shirehall to oppose developments. But councillors repeatedly complained that their hands were tied by national planning policies.

Councillor Martin Bennett said: "The officers have explained the difficulties we are under because of a lack of housing allocation in Shropshire. It is not that Shropshire Council has been difficult or tardy in its planning system. There are currently 7,000 planning permissions pending in Shropshire which developers are sitting on. Developers are not developing. Yet because we do not have a five-year allocation of housing land we have to follow the National Planning Policy Framework. Our back is against the wall and a pistol is against our head.

Today Councillor Arthur Walpole, chairman of the north planning committee, said the Government's National Planning Policy Framework is forcing his committee to approve proposals that would have previously been rejected. He said: "We are having to make very difficult decisions, some of which are going against the will of the public and some we would not have given planning permission before if we were still basing our decisions on SAMdev. It makes me feel powerless. We have asked the public what they want with the SAMdev document, we encouraged them and now we feel powerless to do what they want. We will raise this issue with members of parliament, because we are being put in a very difficult predicament."