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Monday 5 December 2016

Knowle relocation project: planning application to be considered by District Council: Tuesday 6th December >>> "If you went on the SOS Mass March, tomorrow's meeting at Knowle is a must!"

Tomorrow, the planning committee at Knowle will consider an application which, by their officers' won admission, is contrary to their own planning policies:
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: planning application to be considered by District Council: Tuesday 6th December >>> “What is the point of a Local Plan?”

The Streetlife social media site looks at this and other issues related to the application:


If you went on the SOS Mass March, next Tuesday's meeting at Knowle is a must! (6 December. Starts 10.30am)

Jackie G  in Sidmouth

 
Decision on PegasusLife's planning application for Knowle will be next Tuesday. If you haven't set foot in the Council Chamber (set in lovely parkland, lots of parking), this would be a good chance to see for yourselves what Sidmouth would gain and lose, and on what planning considerations the decision is made.

Awkwardly for those who have to make this  decision, classified as 'major',  EDDC still wants to hold back information which they have been instructed to make public. This means another costly Tribunal at our expense.

See  https://saveoursidmouth.com/2016/11/29/eddc-clashes-again-with-information-commissioner-over-knowle-...


    Mary W-T
    I can't credit EDDC's willingness to alienate Sidmouth voters by refusing to share information, amongst other things.

    After the Councillor Brown investigation several years ago by the newspapers you would think they would be eager to show they are not corrupt. Needless secrecy damages trust.

    Then when poeple make the best judgements they can on the information available they are attacked and mocked. Humans are pattern observing creatures, the correctness of the patterns they perceive is dependent on the quality of the information available. As they say 'garbage in, garbage out'. More quality info from EDDC would reduce many problems.

    On the particular question of the Knowle, it seems strange that the officers recommend approving the plan when they did not approve the previous EDDC proposal which was much smaller and less obtrusive.
    Peter S
    Mary W-T

    And of cause you just happen to miss out, that the Former Councillor you mention, the investigation found no case to answer.

    As for the Planning, the one that was refused was EDDC's own application and that is nothing like what Pegasus has put in. Also I was on DMC at the time and voted against the application but this one is completely different, its about time that certain Sidmouth residents stopped being covered in Aspic, and just occasionally embraced something new.
    By the Byes
    I make a point of never coating myself in aspic Peter, far too smelly on a hot day.

    I also make a point of ensuring that the money I give in council tax is well spent - not wasted, squandered or pointlessly abused by local civil servants who've long since forgotten that their aim is to provide the best value for us, the residents, and not for themselves, the employees.
    Jackie G
    As you say, Peter S, it's 'what Pegasus has put in' that will be approved, or not, next Tuesday. Quite correctly, when you and your then councillor colleagues, having listened to reasoned objections from Save Our Sidmouth speakers, voted against EDDC's own application in 2013, I believe you argued on 'planning matters' not mere opinion.
    Any planning application, especially those EDDC calls 'major',  will similarly have to fit in with, not go against,  East Devon's policies now set  in the recently adopted Local Plan.
    Does The Pegasus Life application pass the test? Come to the KNOWLE DECISION MEETING next week (Tues 6th December, in the Development Management Committee session. Starts  10.30am in the Council Chamber) to find out what SOS and EDDC Councillors have to say.
    Peter S
    Jackie G

    Not often we agree, but this time with your reference to 'planning matters' that is what the planning committee have to concentrate on and not the loudest voices, which is usually a personal opinion and not relevant to planning law.
    If they vote against planning law, Pegasus will definitely take it to appeal with all the added costs that entails.
    Jackie G
    Peter S, Could you please explain in more detail  what you mean by "If they vote against planning law" ? It's not very clear.
    Peter S
    Jackie G

    Its self explanatory, you cannot just vote no because you do not like it, you have to have a valid lawful planning reason to do that, I am surprised if you did not know this.
    Jackie G
    Thanks for confirming that, Peter S.
    Save Our Sidmouth (SOS) certainly knows this very well.
    And presumably so do the council's DMC (Development Management Committee) who will be making their possibly difficult decision on the PegasusLIfe planning application,  on Tuesday 6 December. It's good that the public are welcome to the meeting (though unfortunately most won't be free because they'll be at work) which starts at 10.30 a.m, in the Knowle Council Chamber. 
    Mary W-T
    Peter S
    I didn't feel the need to comment on the results of the EDDC investigation into Councillor Brown because that was not what I was alluding to.

    Also I think the results were a little more complex than your 'no case to answer' would imply. The police investigation decided not to take it matter to court though, so although he ceased being a Councillor he did not end up with a criminal record.

    You are fond of holding current Councillors up to scrutiny in some cases so why the distress when you think I am doing so to an ex-Councillor?

    Back to the Pegasus application. As you say it is completely different to the one that was rejected but that does not mean that some planning aspects which caused one to fail are not still present in the other.

     As you so rightly pointed out, if the application is refused on any other than good planning grounds the decision will be challenged so let's not forget that it also works the other way about; an inappropriate approval can also be challenged.
    Peter S
    Mary W-T
    'I didn't feel the need to comment on the results of the EDDC investigation into Councillor Brown because that was not what I was alluding to'
    So why even mention it, it has nothing to do with this application and is now very old news.
    Mary W-T
    Peter, it was about learning lessons from the past.

    I hope the EDDC has also learnt from the many problems created by their planning approvals in Exmouth.
    Barnacle Bill
    The problems you believe have been caused in Exmouth are not insurmountable - surely? In any event, they won't be problems in ten or so years time ................. no problem then.
    Mary W-T
    Just in case people have forgotten I have attached a pdf of the Council's reasons for refusing the last application.

    It seems to me as though they would have to refuse the current ones for the same reasons or leave themselves open to challenge.

    Streetlife | If you went on the SOS Mass March, next Tuesday's meeting at Knowle is a must! (6 December. Starts 10.30am)
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