The Gazette 1975

to Central Government. In the event his strategy had

gone completely awry. It had taken six months to

hammer out a plan which satisfied all the officials, only

to find that the elected representatives felt deprived in

some way because they recognised the plan as a fait

accompli and thought they were merely being asked

to ruhl>er stamp it. They demonstrated their independ-

ence by throwing out the application. At that time

planning appeals to the Minister of Housing and I.ocal

Government were taking about a year to decide. The

developer could not wait that long as he had paid a

great deal of money for the land.

Although the ease of

Roijco and the

Hillingdon

Borough Council

had not then been decided there

was already some authority for the belief that

n unreasonable decision made without authority-

would be quashed in the High Court. Accord-

•»gly I wrote to the Town Clerk of the Planning

Authority and told him I was considering the institu-

tion of legal proceedings against the Council. I also

reminded him that in the event of the proceedings

being successful and costs being awarded against the

Authority some of the members of the Committee

could finish up by being personally liable for the legal

costs. I offered to attend a Council meeting and address

the Council or the Planning Committee. This offer

was accepted and in fact I attended a full meeting

°f the Council and explained why I thought their

decision was a wrong one. With the background of

consultation bv the appellants' advisers with officers

°f the Local Authority and carefully prepared plans

by professional architects the members should not have

refused the application in the way they did. Under-

standably they were reluctant to go along with this

line of argument. To say the least such a proposition

unpleasing to the ears of Councillors who valued

the importance of their position.

They eventually asked me to leave them while

|hey considered what I had said and to my

'ntense relief they finally decided to change their minds

and give consent. If they had called my bluff I do

°t know whether I could have confidently advised

" approach to the High Court. If we had gone to

ppeal I am reasonably confident that the Minister

Would have allowed the appeal hut that would have

"leant a very expensive delay. I quote that example

t o

demonstrate the fact that some planning decisions

lthough given locally by the elected representatives

a r

e greatly influenced by the paid professional and

technical officers.

In considering the question of the participation of

!°cal people in the decision making process itself it

necessary to look beyond the comparatively simple

nd well tried process of administration through local

°unc.ils and committees consisting of elcctcd repres-

entatives. For some time there has been pressure from

number of quarters to allow and to encourage direct

Public participation at all levels of the decision making

ocess. Mr. Jim Ivers, the Director General of the

incorporated Law Society of Ireland has been kind

enough to send me a number of newspaper rejiorts

bout activities in this country which demonstrate the

P°int I have in mind very dearly. In England there

a r c a

number of types of planning applications, some

of which arc commonly known as "bad neighbour"

activities which have to l>c advertised in the local

newspaper and on the site. The list of such activities

is not specified in the Town and Country Planning Act

itself hut by statutory instrument. The list started in

a modest way hut the latest edition (1973) contains

nine separate classes of development and is quite far

reaching.

Local Planning Inquiries Procedure and Pressure

Groups

In the cases so specified the Local Planning Authority

arc required, when determining any application, to

take into account any representations relating to that

application. It must follow that public reaction to a

proposal may have a marked effect on the ultimate

decision. Matters for example of great economic sig-

nificance could be frustrated by a wave of local protest.

Sometimes local protests are marshalled bv enthusiastic-

opponents of a proposed development who virtually

ensure that a planning refusal is issued. In a democratic

society where the decision makers depend on local

votes for their positions of power it is not surprising

that they are extra sensitive to organised protests of

local people. One of the consequences must l>e a tend-

ency to issue refusals in such cases more or less as a

safety measure. This results in more planning appeals

with more local inquiries. It also increases the number

of cases where decisions are not taken locally at all

hut by the Secretary of State. On an appeal against

a planning refusal the Local Planning Authority or

the appellants can ask for a hearing which normally

takes the form of a local inquiry. If the matter is one

of interest in the neighlxmrhood the local inquiry gives

a splendid opportunity for public participation. Action

groups, Rate-payers Associations and similar bodies

either spring up overnight or spring to life after a period

of inactivity. Very often they have a marked influence

on the decision finally reached. Whether such influence

is for good is another matter. There are a number of

very important areas like city centres all over England

which have lain derelict for years, partly as a result

of the activities of such groups. Whilst it is difficult

to produce an ideal plan, suitable for all tastes, for

dealing with an important redevelopment area it is

comparatively easy to mount a devastatingly destructive

criticism of any scheme produced. A powerful civic

society supported by historians, architects and lawyers

can be expected to have a fair chance of success if

they determine to frustrate a proposal for development

of an area which is in the public eye. I have mentioned

sites like city centres but other examples are proposed

airfields, fuel depots or sites for building oil rigs in

remote rural places. Public participation at inquiries

into this sort of development often includes earnest and

undoubtedly sincere groups of citizens collectively de-

scribing themselves as Preservation Societies. The major-

ity of such societies are dominated not, as one would

expect, by natives of the area who depend on it for

their livelihood, but people who live in distant towns

or even in another country but who may have holiday

homes or some less tangible interest in the area

threatened by the proposed development.