Jim, we don't yet know what will be on the agenda for the January planning committee meeting but it won't be the former police station as the developer hasn't yet made a formal application. After an application has been received, it will go through the usual formal consultation process during which residents will have a chance to comment on its design, style, prominence of position, and so on. Cllr John Todd is a long standing member of the planning committee and is known for his forensic approach. I was on the planning committee for a year - long enough to find it extremely frustrating because, as you imply, many members of the committee do not have connections with, or an understanding of, an area. Decisions should be made on planning grounds but not all members of the committee pay enough attention to the character of an area as well as mass, scale, density, etc. Even if a member visits an area to try to get a feel for it before deciding, it's not the same as living there and understanding its finesse (to use your word). I bumped into a resident today who had objected to an overly large and ugly development and was infuriated that the odds are so stacked against the ordinary resident - because decisions are made about design, scale, size, density, etc before an application reaches consultation stage after which it is often too late to have an impact and change minds. We have to keep on trying, though.
Joanna Biddolph ● 1372d