In my previous post I said that the decision of the planning committee couldn’t be overturned by the Council. However, at last week’s planning committee meeting we learned that decisions of the Head of Development Management can be overturned!

Last October the planning committee granted an application on a site in the south of the borough which had received a number of objections. As is always the case, the grant of permission is subject to the applicant entering into a legal agreement by a given date. Failure to do so leads to an automatic refusal of permission.

The applicant did not sign the agreement by the due date and the Head of Development Management refused the permission, however this refusal was subsequently withdrawn.

The committee heard that the Head of Development Management did not have the authority to issue the decision notice and it was on that basis that it had been withdrawn and referred back to the planning committee. Yet the report of the investigation into what had happened contradicts that (see the entry on 07/11/2014)   http://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/documents/s51549/Appendix%202.pdf

At the committee we were told by the legal officer that a planning refusal couldn’t be withdrawn, and then we were told that in this case it could be.

What a mess. No wonder residents are losing faith in Southwark’s plannning decisions and talking about judicial reviews all the time!