Expert advice for community groups and residents associations – an update

Way back in March 2017, we published an article announcing that we had been appointed to advise a residents association in Leeds – we’ve been so busy recently, we haven’t had an opportunity to provide an update! We are pleased to announce that the planning committee agreed with our representations and resolved to refuse the application – to the delight of the community group!

What was all the fuss about?

The community were concerned about proposals to build up to 140 new houses within the Green Belt and approached us to advise them on the robustness of the applicant’s arguments.

We’ve listened to the concerns of the community, carefully reviewed the many documents submitted and concluded that the application failed to demonstrate the existence of ‘very special circumstances’ needed to build in the Green Belt.

We attended the planning committee in April this year, and spoke on behalf of the community group – at which the committee ruled in our favour!

 

What the group said about us:

Our community group approached Ethical Partnership to assist us in objecting to a major residential development. The applicants were claiming ‘special circumstances’ to justify building on green belt land, contrary to local and national guidelines. We needed in depth knowledge and experience of the planning processes relevant to this issue, and when we found Ethical Partnership it was clear that they were both skilled in the technical aspects and sympathetic to our problems, as well as having a proven record of delivering a high-quality service.

Throughout the process, Ethical Partnership listened carefully to our concerns as residents, and their impressive performance helped us to persuade councillors and other local stakeholders who were opposing the application that Ethical Partnership should represent the whole community. They used their knowledge and experience of managing applications and stakeholders to articulate our views clearly and comprehensively, with reference to both national and local planning policies. This included Ethical Partnership preparing numerous detailed representations on behalf of the community and submitting these to the local planning authority. 

We are of course delighted with the decision to refuse the application – and conscious of Ethical Partnership’s role in influencing the case officer’s recommendation and subsequent decision by the Planning Committee.

We found Ethical Partnership to be very positive, proactive and thorough in their approach throughout the project – and we would recommend Ethical Partnership’s services to other community groups.

Please contact us to discuss any planning application where you feel we may be able to assist your group both understand it and make representations.

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