10/07/07 - Development Article, Cllr Phil Young

Growth in Swindon – Part 1

I wanted to put some context to the development you are seeing in Swindon at the moment.  As the Lead Member for Regeneration & Economic Development and a member of the Planning Committee, I have the opportunity to see some of this process up close.

Firstly, all of these extra houses that Swindon has been "allocated" have been because the Government has designated Swindon as a Growth Point for the UK. The actual number we are taking is circa 32,000 which gets decided at the Regional Assembly down in Taunton I believe. The say we have in this is whether we take 32,000 or 35,000 - not an ideal situation I am sure you will agree but this govt's drive towards regional assemblies has disempowered Councils to a degree in this respect.

Secondly, the planning framework nationally (and I am trying my best to avoid jargon here so bear with me) has changed as well. Previously, for a development to get planning permission it was down to the developers to prove why it was needed at which point the Council made its decision. When it changed, it was down to the Council to prove why it was not needed if they didn't want to grant permission. A subtle but extremely significant change which has shifted the power base in development from the Council to developers, and I am not at all convinced that this is a change for the better - I think the Govt have shot themselves in the foot with this one.

The Council still has the right to refuse planning applications. However, the developer then has the right to appeal our decision, and a new decision is made by the Planning Inspectorate (effectively a Govt Dept established to solve these disputes) so you see decisions made by people who have no idea of what we are trying to do in Swindon or the vision we have for the Town and how this development sits within it. The Council obviously does have the right and the opportunity to defend its decision to refuse. If we get this wrong, then we can be charged costs of the Planning Inspectorate process including the legal fees of the developer in appealing. This comes directly from our budgets - so effectively from the Council tax that you and I all pay! Clearly, this means we have to have solid ground to refuse an application so we don't ratchet up costs left, right and centre that we all end up paying for.

That brings me on to the final part of this part.  When we make a planning decision, we HAVE to do so within the policies set nationally by the Govt of the day. Currently, we are seeing applications that have higher density, lower parking provision, etc than I personally would like to see. In reality it is hard to refuse these because the Govt has set national guidelines which the developers are following and thus have a very strong case should we refuse and it go to appeal (which as above leads to more costs for the Council again...see how this can get quite frustrating!!).

That is the big problem in my eyes. We are trying to do something in this Town to improve it and make it better for all. However national policies do not take into account what a local council is trying to achieve, or the views of local people. Take parking for example. We do not have the best public transport system, and it is difficult to move around the Town sometimes if you don't have a car. However the Govt is trying to force people out of cars for environmental reasons and therefore have made parking guidelines for developments a lot lower than I personally would deem practicable. This means that the developers sacrifice parking spaces for more houses/flats (and therefore more profit which I can understand - they're running a business after all) and we struggle to refuse because the Govt say its okay. It is frustrating to then consider where you go with that?!?!?

With myself on Planning, and Dale as Chair of Planning, Covingham; Coleview and Nythe residents have a strong voice in the Chamber for them.

Growth in Swindon – Part 2

Infrastructure needed for growth. I have already outlined why we are getting the developments we are in Swindon. However, we cannot do this alone. We really need the Govt to support us and I mean seriously support us.

To provide the infrastructure for all this cannot be done through Council Tax. We need new roads, we need a better Town Centre, we need new and better schools, we need local shopping areas that quite often can be the heart and focal point of a community (as long as you don't get the local yobs trying to dominate the area around them!), we need improved leisure facilities (Cllr Justin Tomlinson is doing some great work here too). All these things cost money.

The Council is trying to do our bit in terms of working up plans and providing the land for some significant developments that will really turn around the Town Centre when they are finished but this is just the start.

The £2.7million grant to transform Wharf Green really should only be the tip of the iceberg in terms of the support we need from the Govt to be able to service this growth effectively. All the above really only deals with the physical infrastructure as well. We also need to be able to tackle the "soft" issues such as youth provision, vandalism, crime, public health, etc.

It a really massive and daunting agenda but we are up for the challenge and the more people we can get to understand these issues we face and to work with the Council and engage (bleurghh, engage - what a real politician term - sorry) with us, giving us ideas, telling us when we are getting it wrong (but also telling us when we are getting it right please!). That part is crucial. We are only a small team of Cllrs on a relative scale, we need many more people to get involved here!

Back Garden Developments

This is a John Prescott special. The Govt made a sweeping statement that development should primarily, where possible, be on brownfield land (i.e. land that has been developed before rather than fields, etc). Quite reasonable that I think. However, our dear Deputy Prime Minister (as he was then) then designated gardens at brownfield land. Quite unreasonable!

In my opinion, this is an absolute disgrace but not a huge amount we can do on it. What we have tried to do is to create a local policy that sets out what is acceptable in this respect. This is an area that Dale has done some really good work and we do have a good policy in that respect. It doesn't stop the applications or the appeals when we turn them down but it does give some added ammunition to our planning officers when they go to defend our decision to refuse.

My opinion on this is that it’s an absolute travesty. One of the things that I think is absolutely crucial for families is the space to have a garden and for kids to have their own secure outdoor space, allowing them to play, eat mud, whatever they want to do! Taking this space away through additional developments is the wrong thing for Swindon.  This is a real bug bear of mine!

Cllr Phil Young is the Lead Member for Regeneration on Swindon Council.