CONCERNS THAT DRAFT RSS IS BEING "INTRODUCED BY THE BACK DOOR" (Julia Goldsworthy)

Julia Goldsworthy <info@juliagoldsworthy.org>

CONCERNS THAT DRAFT RSS IS BEING "INTRODUCED BY THE BACK DOOR"

September 14, 2009 3:30 PM

Julia Goldsworthy MP has called on Government Ministers to stop the controversial draft Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) being "introduced by the back door."

The Draft RSS proposes plans to build 11,000 new homes in Camborne and Redruth, and has been subject to fierce criticism locally for being out of touch with local need. Across the South West it has provoked tens of thousands of objections. A legal challenge has led to the publication of the final document being delayed in both the South West and South East.

Julia has written to Communities Secretary John Denham raising concerns about Government-appointed planning inspectors using the document to overturn applications at appeal for large-scale developments that would otherwise have been rejected by the local authority.

The MP for Falmouth and Camborne warned that the RSS was in danger of being used "opportunistically" by developers on sites that may not end up being allocated for development in the final RSS - if the process itself is not abandoned altogether.

In her letter to Mr Denham, she branded the situation "ludicrous."

"In my own constituency, great concern has been expressed by a large number of individuals and organisations about the number of properties put forward in the draft plan, as well as their location," she said.

"It has been drawn to my attention that the Planning Inspector is using the draft strategy as a reference document when considering planning applications that have been taken to appeal. The result of such an approach is that developers are opportunistically putting in large-scale planning applications on the basis of the draft strategy, knowing that councils will either have to approve them, or facing losing any appeal that is made against their refusal.

"Such use of this document by the Planning Inspector further underlines the anti-democratic nature of the entire regional spatial strategy process, and could result in planning decisions going against not only the wishes of local authorities and communities, but also against the final recommendations of the Regional Spatial Strategy, if and when such a document is published.

"This seems to me to be a completely ludicrous state of affairs, and I hope you will be able to respond to my concerns by issuing guidance to the planning inspectorate making it clear that Regional Spatial Strategies in their draft form are not to be used in this way.

"If you are not able to give this reassurance, then the only conclusion to draw is that this is an attempt effectively to introduce the provisions of the draft RSS, against the wishes of tens of thousands of people in the South West in an underhand way, in the hope they will not notice."