In the past three editions of the Watford Observer there have been two letters and an article concerning planning.

One resident criticised too many homes being given planning permission in tall buildings. A councillor in reply explained the planning facts of life as they are today.

In last week’s edition, a current planning appeal against the council’s refusal for 57 flats in Monmouth Road was reported.

It is a further fact of planning life that officers advise councillors who make the decisions. Go back to 2019 and the council refused planning permission for the redevelopment of the Garston bus garage. As with Monmouth Road, against the advice of their officers. The subsequent planning appeal was dismissed by that planning inspector. So what will be the outcome of the Monmouth Road planning appeal?

In the past two years government national planning policy framework for England has changed. The minimum number of new homes to be delivered each year has to be calculated according to the Government’s standard method.

For Watford this means delivering new homes ie being built and completed. A minimum of 1,837 was required for the three years 2017-20 and 874 were completed. To check that this is happening the Government assess each council’s performance every 12 months in its Housing Delivery Test which is the source of my figures. So according to Whitehall, the council is not delivering the minimum required.

So when this planning appeal comes to be decided a part, amongst several, of the national planning policy framework will take effect. It advises that where housing is being underdelivered all sustainable development shall be given planning permission unless and I quote ‘adverse impacts would significantly and demonstrably outweigh its benefits’.

To counter this it may be argued that the proposal lacks high quality design. Indeed the council’s reason for refusal is rooted in design issues. The Government is giving increasing emphasis to design quality and it was on design issues that the bus garage appeal failed. Whilst it is arguably a simple objective test to show under delivery of new homes, it is a more complicated subjective test to demonstrate a lack of high quality design. This appeal shows to all I hope that the national planning policy framework is real and directly affects planning decisions both made locally and by planning inspectors. And the town we live in.

Roger Pidgeon

By email