ONCE again, I want to express my frustration at how the UK government has fatally undermined the planning system. As I have written before, Westminster has imposed an inappropriate, unsustainable and undeliverable housing target on Cornwall, which means that council officers have taken the view that we no longer have a “five-year land supply”.

In this scenario, it is stated in the government’s National Planning Policy Framework that a “tilted balance” comes into play and housing applications should be approved unless “any adverse impacts of doing so would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits”. It adds that particular regard should be paid to “key policies for directing development to sustainable locations, making effective use of land, securing well-designed places and providing affordable homes…”

I recently referred three planning applications to a planning meeting. In spite of everything I said at the meeting, all three were approved.

I was most surprised that the first application of the three was allowed. It was a low-density development of seven-to-nine properties in open countryside. This “planning in principle” application, therefore, fell below the threshold [of 10] for local-needs housing.

At the meeting, I pointed out that another very similar application had recently been turned down. It was in Probus. The refusal notice for the development stated that the site was “located outside of the defined settlement” and it represented an “undesirable extension and incongruous pocket of development into the countryside”. I argued that both proposals should be treated the same, but that did not materialise.

I am continuing to challenge such inconsistencies in local planning, and I am arguing that parishes in the Clay Country should be treated with the same respect as other areas across Cornwall.

If I can be of assistance to anyone, please feel free to get in contact with me: [email protected] or 07791 876607.