Planning applications in Rochford are dealt at Rochford in 3 different ways.
Some applications are so small that the decisions are delegated to council officers. A typical example would be an extension to a house. A rarer example would be for a bigger application in the Green Belt – if it is against the councils green belt policy, officers have delegated powers of refusal without it touching councillors.
Really big applications go directly to the Development Committee for decision-making by councillors.
In the middle are applications on the “weekly yellow list”. Every week the District Council website has a new “yellow list” of planning applications that have been examined by council planning officers. Councillors get a full report – plus a recommendation from officers on whether to allow or refuse. This recommendation comes into effect unless any councillor calls it in to the development committee by the following Wednesday.
Usually applications are called in if a councillor is unhappy with the recommendation – they may want to turn an approval into a refusal, or a refusal into an approval. Sometimes, though, an application is recommended for refusal for one reason, and a councillor calls it in to add further reasons.
Anyway, you can find the latest weekly list here
One of this week’s applications is in Dalys Road , Rochford – to demolish a bungalow and replace it with 5 flats in a two-storey building with rooms in the roof space – so effectively three storeys.
Officers are recommending refusal for a hefty set of reasons:
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The area of floorspace is too small.
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The building is too high.
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The parking area would have a detrimental effect on neighbours, due to additional noise, light and fumes.
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Insufficient information about wildlife – particularly badgers