Planning Committee & Decision Making
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March 9, 2013 at 8:08 am #53909
wxmParticipantIf planning committees are so contentious, why don’t they have a committee of 12 (like a jury) with 6 councillors selected 7 days before to read the papers and 6 planning officers from neighbouring authorities who are rotated each month.
March 9, 2013 at 8:15 am #59459
thewayneinspainParticipantwxm;4336 wrote:If planning committees are so contentious, why don’t they have a committee of 12 (like a jury) with 6 councillors selected 7 days before to read the papers and 6 planning officers from neighbouring authorities who are rotated each month.less democratic. no way.
March 9, 2013 at 5:41 pm #59471
SamParticipant@wxm 4336 wrote:
If planning committees are so contentious, why don’t they have a committee of 12 (like a jury) with 6 councillors selected 7 days before to read the papers and 6 planning officers from neighbouring authorities who are rotated each month.
Better the devil you know !
March 9, 2013 at 6:37 pm #59482
wxmParticipantIs the system and process we have working?
March 9, 2013 at 9:22 pm #59460
thewayneinspainParticipantwxm;4358 wrote:Is the system and process we have working?no it’s not.
Firstly any system that reduces the liberties of the public is wrong and the liberties of the public are reduced if they have less of a say than they have now.
The most important thing should be increasing those liberties. Ie. Give the public more of a say.
Secondly, for the three most controversial decisions (eagles meadow, wrexham village and the Brymbo development) the planning officers’s advice has been accepted by the planning committee and they gave planning.
On that history, the future would mean even more stupid decisions by the council.
Above all democracy first… always, always, always!
March 9, 2013 at 10:08 pm #59476
AlunhParticipantDemocracy as described can only go so far. You don’t go into a Doctors and decide what is a suitable treatment, though you might select the Doctor in the first place. There has to be a deliberative element where those individuals who are elected to do a job do it. The point of an election is to get them in or get them out. I’m always wary of micro-managing complex problems, though the way in which Wrexham Council has traditionally behaved does make you question some of this
March 10, 2013 at 2:05 pm #59483
wxmParticipantso at the moment, the planning process seems to have the investigator, prosecutor, judge and jury … all in the same room. Democracy?
March 10, 2013 at 2:36 pm #59480
Welsh DresserParticipantAssuming that the people in the room have differing view points and discuss the subject then come to a conclusion that suits them all it is democracy. What is the alternative? Sack them all and bring in new blood with no experience? That’s a recipe for disaster.
March 10, 2013 at 5:09 pm #59461
thewayneinspainParticipantwxm;4376 wrote:so at the moment, the planning process seems to have the investigator, prosecutor, judge and jury … all in the same room. Democracy?its not though, there is the consultation process before any application goes before committee.
Each application is assigned a planner to co-operate with the developer/applicant and address any issues.
The public also can consult with the planning department. Which is why dodgy developers always put in applications during december and July when they hope the public won’t be about.
The community council also gets to pitch its views.
And then we have something I very much disagree with, if a planning app is refused the applicant/developer can appeal to the welsh office/welsh assembly.
It’s not ideal and it’s a long way from the kind of democracy i strive for, but it’s a process were elected people get to give a planning application the go ahead. In my book, any suggestion that results in less public involvement is morally and ethically wrong. A planning committee with people not elected on it is unethical.
March 10, 2013 at 5:24 pm #59462
thewayneinspainParticipantWelsh Dresser;4377 wrote:Assuming that the people in the room have differing view points and discuss the subject then come to a conclusion that suits them all it is democracy. What is the alternative? Sack them all and bring in new blood with no experience? That’s a recipe for disaster.for me, I don’t think any councillor should be given more than 2 terms on each political position possibly a third if they make to the council’s “cabinet” … ie. two terms as a community councillor, two terms as a councillor, one extra if voted on to the exec board [obviously if you are voted as a town councillor you have to sit on the community council for two extra terms too!] When people are on the same seat for years and years, it breeds cronyism and councillors who are out of touch with reality…
any councillor will gain experience by first being a community councillor.
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