Council attacked for plan to charge for planning advice

Craven Council has come under fire for moves to charge planning applicants for advice.

The service provided by the local authority’s planning officers is estimated to cost £28,000 a year.

According to the council, introducing charges will help to recover some of the cost and will help planning officers “to focus their time on supporting larger and often controversial applications which could significantly impact on the quality of life for people living and working in the district.”

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But Alan Perrow, of Craven Ratepayers Action Group (CRAG), said: “It entails householders and developers paying planning officers for advice. If they receive paid-for professional advice from the council’s planning officers and they abide by that advice they are entitled, in my opinion, to feel justifiably aggrieved if planning is not then consented. There is no doubt in my mind that this could be perceived as payment for planning.”

Proposals which are being explored include the council continuing to provide a free service at its Granville Street planning reception for householder and other smaller applications. The duty planning officer would be available to answer questions for such applications, says the council.

Under the proposals, written advice on minor residential developments of one to four dwellings and other uses (including changes of use) where the floor space is below 500 square metres or where the site area is 0.5 hectares or less, would cost £250 and £125 for follow-up requests.

An initial meeting regarding a residential development between five and 50 dwellings and other uses where the floor space is between 501and 5000 square metres or where the site area is between 0.51 and one hectare would cost £500 – rising to £1,000 for residential developments of 51 dwellings or more on a larger site. Subsequent meetings would cost 50 per cent.

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Leader of Craven Council Chris Knowles-Fitton said: “In the current financial climate we need to explore all options to ensure that our services are working as efficiently as possible.

“By charging for planning advice we will be able to continue to offer free advice to householders. At the same time we will be able to cover some of our costs in terms of time spent supporting larger and more complex developments.”

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