jstockdale
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Persecution of Jenny Mumford - 2008/04/19 10:20
Jenny Mumford faces prosecution and enforcement action from Lewes District Council for putting a piece of art on the side of her house. The artwork is attractive and it enhances the street in the conservation area where she lives. So far as I know none of her neighbours has complained about it. But, it is critical of the planners who are bringing the case against her.
It might be nice to think that the planners care so much about the conservation area that they are really picky about what they regard as infringements. But are they? I've just had a letter from the Planning Department to advise that the application to demolish a flint wall on the Lewes House site "was deferred at the meeting of the Planning Applications Committee on 26 March 2008 and subsequently withdrawn by the applicant on the basis that legal advice indicates that CAC (Conservation Area Consent) is not required."
In fact the application was not deferred. It was refused. The Planning Committee was then told they had made a mistake and they probably illegally changed their decision. Now the applicant has decided that the application isn't necessary and the Council are indicating that they don't propose to do anything about it.
Storm in a teacup? Officers just sorting out a minor administrative cock up to ensure that very necessary housing including affordable units get built? Not quite. The Planning Committee met the day before, on 25 March, for a site visit followed by a two hour meeting in private with the officers. Was this legal? I don't know. I'm not a lawyer. But it certainly was not usual - or democratically transparent. It appears the Planning Committee were apprised of the practical facts of the case and they were 'coached' in how to deal with the application.
Unfortunately they either forgot their lines or lost their stomach for the process in the face of the almost palpable anger in the public gallery. They approved the applications to build the housing, break through the twitten walls and demolish the 18th century ice house and then refused the application to demolish a flint wall across the main site which barred access to where the public housing was to be built. Panic! The cash from the Housing Corporation apparently fell away at the end of the financial year (31 March) and the whole process would have to start again. Hence the fudge.
Before proceeding against Jenny Mumford's Glenda Slagg picture, our planners should speak to their colleagues in Oxford who failed to get a giant shark removed from a roof in Headington. Besides, it seems far more likely that the Planning Committee have broken the law than this concerned local resident.
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