On 23 Jul 2007, at 21:37, Trevor Burridge wrote: > I worry more about the Greedy developer folk
Its the landowners who tend to be greedier, but that's splitting hairs, perhaps. > My chair rocked back a long way when the Government said today they > wanted > Local Authorities to be tougher on Flood Plain development! What I heard on the wireless today was Yvette Cooper reminding us that the government had significantly tightened the rules in December last year with a new Planning Policy Guidance Note on development and flood risk - prepared after much consultation. Of course, it might take a year or two to start to work through the system. > They are now so tooth less that they run the risk of the > Councillors being > surcharged if they object. Councils can have costs awarded against them at appeals if they're judged to have acted unreasonably. AFAIK this has never resulted in members being personally surcharged. Some I have worked for should have been. > Isn't this the same party that were going to > introduce fast track planning approvals ? Still in the pipeline. Of course, if your neighbour gets a fast track planning approval to turn his house into a tripe boiling factory because you were on holiday during the 48hr consultation period, you might not think it a wizard scheme :-) Baz
