Spotted on HarringayOnline is news that Haringey Council will no longer send you a letter informing you when a neighbour has lodged a planning application. So until recently, if a near neighbour was planning a loft conversion or extension, for example, the council would write to you letting you know so you could comment on the application if you wished.
Haringey's website says:
In line with the 2017 Revised Statement of Community Involvement consultation letters will no longer be sent for planning applications as of 1 June 2017. Where there is a legal duty to consult a site notice will be placed at each site.
Local groups can also sign up to receive notification of planning applications via email, and they can also use the Notiz smartphone app to receive notifications straight to their phone.
So this means keeping an eye out for notices pinned to trees, buildings, fences etc.
Replies
Please see :http://www.haringey.gov.uk/planning-and-building-control/planning/p...
My neighbour just told me of yet another 'pack em in' proposal for Selborne Road, which we'd not been informed about.... this lack of information is clearly a ploy to deter objectors.
This page seems to have the details for signing up via e-mail: Find out about new planning applications.
That's useful - thanks, Fiona. There would be rather a lot for everyone to trawl through, though, since it's for the whole of Haringey, even if presented in ward order. It would save a lot of effort by individuals if one or two people undertook to keep this website updated with planning applications relevant to this area - ?
This has more to do with the perennial sloth of local government and reluctance to make an effort in the face of increased workload that all planning departments are facing these days. For years they had it easy as little got built and now are not fit to cope with the workload.
Both admin and management of workload in the Haringey Planning department are abysmal. Over half of all appeals on rejected applications are lost by Haringey at a great cost to the local taxpayers (enough to offset some of the cuts). First, it is negligently wasteful. Well run Council planing departments lose only a tiny proportion of appeals, if any. Second, sloppy practices also can mask corruption. Where there is an inconsistency of what is allowed and not by those in a position of power, there is corruption, patronage, abuse of power, or at the very least there is a fertile ground for it.
I recently got a close look at the mad hatter workings of our council. We had our planning application for a loft extension rejected last year as "not in keeping with the area" (?! - loft conversions and other extensions are going all around us, wherever there isn't one already); and that was after we submitted a second set of architectural plans following a detailed pre-consultation with a planning officer who had raised objections to a number of details in the original architect's plans, but had had no objections to the loft conversion. His colleague who made the decision on the second set of plans had, but was in a hurry and sent us a rejection with reference to another application, another address altogether - in itself enough to secure us an appeal victory. Neither the planning officer, nor the head of planning replied to a series of voicemails, emails and letters from us (we didn't want to appeal before checking with the Council first). We contacted our councillor. There followed a curt "not in keeping with the area" reply. We decided not to appeal in the end. Unlike the Council officers, we live and work in a real world, where one strives never to mess about with other people's time or money and where one certainly does not earn one's living doing it. The loft will have to wait.
The trouble is that Haringey doesn't have the greatest record posting public notices. For instance there was no notice put up for the Blake Road application which caused so much controversy last year.
And the new regime doesn't cater for those who aren't online or have requisite phones etc.
Clare Bull, Bounds Green councillor, was at BGDRA last night and this point was raised. She undertook to find out the ins and outs and report back. Any more detail will be posted here.
I meant to add that I assume this is due to austerity/cut backs? It could mean that some people get a horrible surprise if they don't use apps or the internet.
Thank you. Those are my worries too.