This blog is mainly about the governance and future of policing and crime services. (Police & Crime Commissioners feature quite a lot.) But there are also posts about the wider justice system. And because I am town councillor and political activist, local & national issues are covered a little, as well.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

How long will the celebrations in Winslow last?

As a town councillor who has been working hard on creating our Buckingham Neighbourhood Development Plan, along with my fellow councillors, I want to send a hearty congratulations to Winslow Town Council. They got a resounding referendum yes vote in support of their plan a few days ago. You can read about it here. Turnout was a stonking 59.5% which I think deserves an even greater accolade than the overall yes vote. Well done to all involved!

But now it gets complicated. The referendum question (as determined by government regulations) was:
“Do you want Aylesbury Vale District Council to use the neighbourhood plan for Winslow to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?”
OK.... Let's look at that a little more closely. "Do you want Aylesbury Vale District Council to use the neighbourhood plan for Winslow to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?" It could have said "Do you want Aylesbury Vale District Council to use the neighbourhood plan for Winslow to decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?" but it didn't. When I saw this, a few red warning lights went off in my head.

Because, as we all know, there is the law and there is politics. It is evident that the population of Winslow are very much for their local neighbourhood plan. However, if a housing developer were to submit an application to build a quantity of houses in a location outside the plan's 'map' of Winslow, what might happen? Here are some scenarios:
  1. AVDC planning committee reject the application as being in non conformance with the Neighbourhood Plan. The developer says 'Ah well, we thought we would give it one last shot but hey, the people have spoken' etc... and goes away.
  2. AVDC planning committee reject the application as being in non conformance with the Neighbourhood Plan. The developer says 'Hah! You only have to use the neighbourhood plan to help you decide what to do (and you have not done more than that)... so we will take you to the planning inspector as we believe our application is sustainable and in accord with the existing wider plans (which don't exist because AVDC had their plan rejected)". The planning inspector decides in favour of the District and Town council. The Developer contemplates taking the case to the High Court as there is some serious profit to be made here...
  3. AVDC planning committee reject the application as being in non conformance with the Neighbourhood Plan. The developer says 'Hah! You only have to use the neighbourhood plan to help you decide what to do (and you have not done that)... so we will take you to the planning inspector as we believe our application is sustainable and in accord with the existing wider plans (which don't exist because AVDC had their plan rejected)". The planning inspector decides in favour of the Developer. Local people and councillors are aghast and ask what was he point of the whole plan in the first place...
  4. AVDC planning committee accept the application as they fear the consequences of scenario 3 above and money is rather tight after all. Local people and town councillors are aghast and ask what was he point of the whole plan in the first place... District councillors go off the grid for a while and return with sheepish expressions and saying it was all the government's fault anyway. The regulations were not tight enough and (ahem!), the District Council is the planning authority and will remain so! 
Of course, there are probably multiple other scenarios. What do you think might happen?

2 comments:

  1. As you know, I had the same fears. Inquiries revealed, however, that the referendum question is prescribed in secondary legislation, whereas the principle of local development plans is enshrined in primary legislation. Given that primary legislation takes precedence over secondary legislation, it is likely that Winslow's referendum will hold firm - although given AVDC's track record, they may still need to remain highly vigilant.

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    1. Hopefully you are correct Mike - but as you know - there are still some AVDC councillors who think that once their plan is in place, the town & parish neighbourhood plans will be subordinate to it. We will be both watching this space, I am sure...

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