At a time when town centre planning and invasion of the green belt has never been more contentious, developers and large corporations seem to regard conditions accompanying any approval with increasing contempt.
Wainhomes are currently building houses in Congleton in the face of great opposition from local residents. In the circumstances you’d expect the company to be sensitively following the approved plan so as not to further distress neighbours. On the contrary, Wainhomes have raised the ground level of the site and subsequent height of the houses totally without approval, which they will now seek retrospectively.
Let us hope the planning inspector who will hear the company’s appeal against Cheshire East’s refusal of retrospective planning permission and enforcement notice to demolish 17 homes on the site deal will deal with this with the same resolve as the Timbersbrook Project, which was ordered to be pulled down.
If you drive regularly through Congleton as I do you will be aware of the closure of the Waggon and Horses pub standing on a desperately congested traffic island at West Heath. Despite already having a major store three minutes drive away Tesco sought and gained planning approval to convert the premises into a shop.
Not satisfied with the attached conditions Tesco asked for the removal of the restriction of the size of vehicles visiting the store, which was presumably added by planners concerned about the risk to flowing traffic.
Tesco were successful in their application and may now have vehicles of any size shunting into a tiny compound on one of the most congested traffic islands in the county.
Subsequently Tesco has applied for the lifting of the condition: “That the development must be carried out in accordance with the approved plans.”
To be replaced, no doubt, with ‘unapproved’ plans. Where Tesco do whatever they damn well want.
The moral of this story is that planning approval is just the thin end of a very sharp wedge and initial plans are no more than that. The final development may be a vastly different affair.
Resident groups should be aware of that when viewing plans developers put forward and see them for what they are…a foot in the door.
