Episode 1 Permission Impossible: Britain's Planners

Planning battles are raging across Britain.

-I love the countryside.

-So do I, mate, so leave it alone.

I don't have time for NIMBYs.

No to the student village!

In a drive to boost the economy,

the Government has relaxed planning laws...

It's a massive planning application.

It is a big project. You're talking about 270 million of economic benefit.

We like to see enterprise but not on our doorstep.

..so developers are cashing in...

Of course I'm here to make a buck. Guilty as charged.

..objectors are going to war...

It's not morally right, it's not socially right.

Disgusting. Totally stitched up.

And I'm not having that they were frightened of a bunch of pensioners.

..deciding who wins are Britain's planners.

I can't sit on the fence. It's not a fence. It's railings basically.

Tonight, Britain's biggest developer reveals his target market...

We build homes for the objectors of tomorrow.

..an objector to a modern development

tells the designers where to go...

Take them off to Altrincham maybe or Didsbury

where people aspiring to have that life can get on with it.

..and can the planners save this historic building for future generations?

It's criminal that they bought this asset and are doing nothing with it.

It should be a national treasure and an asset for the local people.

As the population and the need for houses increases,

planners are allocating more green fields for developers.

In the Cheshire town of Ellesmere Port,

a developer has been trying to get permission to build

1,500 homes on this greenfield site for nearly two years.

Fiona Edwards, head planner at Cheshire West and Chester Council,

will decide whether to recommend their second application for approval.

The site basically... Ledsham Road is bounding it here in the north

and it basically spills down in a southerly direction

and it is a massive site, it's fair to say.

You're talking about 105 hectares of land here,

so it is a very, very big site

and it's certainly one of the biggest of the proposals that we've got in the borough.

This is when we take our lives into our hands.

Her team recommended the developers' previous scheme,

only for it to be turned down by the committee just a month ago.

The previous proposal for 2,000 dwellings was refused

contrary to officer recommendation at Strategic Planning Committee earlier this year.

What the applicants did was revise their proposal

to reduce the number of houses from the 2,000 plus down to the 1,500.

So here we are with a massive planning application.

With housing in low supply in Cheshire,

there is pressure to approve unpopular applications in order to hit Government targets.

As planners, we're trying to provide good quality homes for people

and the only way of doing that is to maintain a steady stream of new housing.

Building our way out of recession is high on the Government agenda

and we're looking, as it stands, to provide about 1,050 houses a year

and they have to go somewhere.

Behind the scheme are Cheshire-based developers Redrow,

one of Britain's biggest house builders.

Founded by Steve Morgan 30 years ago with a loan of £5,000,

the company now has assets worth over £600 million.

-OK?

-Yes.

Do you stay very hands-on?

Yes. Very. Claire, am I hands-on?

Very hands-on, very hands-on.

In the last 12 months, he's had planning permission

to build 5,500 homes on sites like this one in Liverpool.

We're sometimes called faceless developers. Nasty, horrible people. We're not.

Everything we do creates jobs in this country,

puts roofs over people's heads.

Of course I'm here to make a buck. Guilty as charged.

But there is a massive, massive housing shortage in the country

and yet when you come to go for planning,

almost every single time we are faced with, "Say no to Redrow."

We have to spend more on planning fees

than we do on the very bricks that build the homes.

We have this problem all the time.

Doesn't matter if it's brownfield or greenfield,

we have the objectors coming out and fighting us on every single step we take.

They grow horns and they become just different people

who behave outside of their normal personality.

Lo and behold, the biggest objectors of the lot

are people who have bought Redrow homes.

I often say that we build homes for the objectors of tomorrow.

Tomorrow's NIMBYs buy our homes. It's a fact.

These are ordinary people that don't want to change.

The site for Redrow's latest application in Ellesmere Port

is currently being farmed.

David and June Reed have rented Sutton New Hall Farm

since the early 1990s.

This is all milling wheat for bread making.

The next fields further on are all malt and barley for beer,

whisky, whatever you want, whatever you fancy.

It's really good land. I think it's probably the best land on the Wirral.

If it gets passed, the whole lot's going to go, if this goes through.

Which, for all that many acres seems, I don't know...

I didn't expect it, I must admit.

Don't want to see it destroyed.

We've worked for 27 years to make it what it is.

It wasn't as good as this when we came.

We've put a lot of time and effort

into getting it to grow crops like this.

We've spent a lot of money and it's obviously just going to be wasted.

It's like you're wasting half your life.

Half your life's work has been wasted when it's built on.

If planning permission is given to build the estate,

David and June's private landlord will sell the land

and they'll lose their family home.

If you've been here as long as we have and brought all our kids up in there...

Nearly 22 years now.

It's a long time, isn't it? To stay in one place.

Once it's built on, concreted over,

it'll never be used again for growing food, will it?

That's it. It's gone. Gone forever.

Great architects of the past have left a legacy

of ground-breaking designs all over Britain.

That's not fixed. I could put that there.

In Cheshire, planner Nial Casselden

is overseeing an application from a developer...

I've bust it now.

..determined to make his mark on the landscape.

There. No-one will ever know.

The plans offer two contemporary houses

in one of Cheshire's oldest towns.

The market town of Frodsham dates back to the 13th century.

You've got half-timbered buildings,

you've got thatched roofs, good pubs.

Yeah, it's a really nice place to live.

It's also got a pub called The Cheshire Cheese.

It's not my home cheese.

My home cheese is Stilton, so I'd have to put that above Cheshire.

But Cheshire, I'd stick that second on the list.

With plots hard to come by in the area,

the developer bought an existing house with a large garden to build on.

There's a fair old mixture of designs.

They're not all exactly the same.

Then you've got this house here

which is a really nice early 20th-century Arts and Crafts style detached house.

We have to pay close regard to the character of the area

because it is adjacent to a conservation area as well.

Beyond the site, you've got houses all the way round the back and side

and, of course, it's a very modern design as well.

It's not exactly what you'd call bog standard.

It's pretty out there, really.

The developer behind this scheme is an advocate for modern living.

Self-made millionaire Steve O'Connor spent £4 million

building his own contemporary home in Frodsham

for his wife and two children.

The architect was determined you should see

a box, a curve, a tube and two triangles

and it would look like a child had just left its blocks.

Steve made his money in haulage and spends it developing modern homes.

It shouldn't feel like you're in a kitchen space.

It should feel like you're in a cool bar.

The main window is set back

and the way it's set back and leaning in at 15 degrees

means that we never get the rain falling on the windows.

When it's raining it doesn't quite depress you the same.

On Steve's latest project, he spent £30,000 commissioning the design

of two modern homes he wants to build in Frodsham.

Inside the space, you've got open-plan kitchen/dining/lounge.

It all flows through.

The actual block above ground will be and feel very private

with four en suite bedrooms.

People who live in these properties are going to see themselves as permanently on holiday.

Steve has the pennies and the plot but not the planning permission.

First couple of people I showed it to were appalled

and said that this would never work but, yes, I am passionate about it.

I do think that this represents very much a smart, modern, exec house.

That's what people want.

But Steve's designs may be a step too far

for retired teacher Dennis Rowley who grew up in Frodsham.

When I went to the preplanning meeting, I think my heart sank.

They were like an outline of a small nuclear power station

and at best you could say they were an industrial unit.

Dennis's sister Liz lives next door to the proposed development.

The thought of two big Berlin Walls standing over there,

brutal, concrete.

Dennis has been working on his objection letter for several days.

I felt because it was a significant development

it ought to have the best response that I could muster

so it required a degree of research

and it ran to nine pages with references to give it rigour.

They are going to be damn high and in your face

but that's the bit that's hard to put across until they're built.

They're pretty high up, those trees. They're just so imposing.

Take them off to Altrincham maybe or Didsbury

where people aspiring to have that life can get on with it.

As communities expand all over Britain,

even small villages must adapt to development.

The historic lanes in the Cotswolds, once used by ponies and traps,

were fit for purpose but for today's modern motorists,

they can be a nightmare to negotiate.

In the sleepy hamlet of Butterrow near Stroud,

a developer wants to turn former agricultural land

into a commercial builders' yard

to store building materials and machinery.

But it's not gone down well with 74-year-old resident Bernard Humberstone,

who's enjoyed an unspoilt view for the last 30 years.

This is the back garden.

Now you know why we want to protect everything.

I looked at this place, which was just a little cottage then.

Two-bedroom.

But it had so much opportunity. It faced south.

Lovely countryside, the valley.

I wanted something on its own.

You could sunbathe down there in the nude.

-No-one's going to see you, are they?

-Do you?

-No! Leading question.

Bernard and his neighbours will overlook the builders' yard

if planning permission is granted.

It's not a nice thing to have. It's a hamlet, not even a village.

We're all very greedy. We've all got lovely countryside.

Look at this. Beautiful.

You think about it. I don't want to think about it!

Planner Phil Skill is on his way to assess the site

for the proposed builders' yard.

This is Butterrow. We come off the common over the cattle grid.

As a road, this isn't a road.

This is a track that has tarmac on it, which isn't untypical of Stroud.

However, you know, there's several hundred people who live along here.

So people are coming and going.

What you've got to have around here is good neighbours

because you're going to need their drive occasionally

just to pull into to avoid something coming the other way.

Effectively what we've got here is an application for a change of use.

The land currently stands as agricultural land.

It's got a building on the site.

And the rest of it to be used as a functional builder's yard.

So, materials, et cetera. It's previously used land.

It's brownfield, well, grey field, at the moment.

We understand that there's possibly asbestos underneath here.

So we've got an issue there.

Looking out, we've got the AONB,

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty opposite,

so this site's quite visible from the AONB.

I'd need to look at that,

as to whether or not that's something that we can mitigate for.

Since planning laws were relaxed in 2012, planners are now under

more pressure to support growth and expansion in rural areas.

Probably one of the bonuses for the applicant is that we've

already got a structure on site.

The idea behind the application is to convert

that into the offices for the company.

So that's where the accounts and the rest room and the canteen

and all that sort of things are.

So at least with this application, we're not taking a bare field

and then constructing on it as well.

It doesn't need a lot to turn it into something useful.

So, it's got a hope.

Phil will call upon the Council's Highway Officer to assess

the access to the site.

CAR ENGINE REVS

As we say around here, laters!

He'll have eight weeks to make his final decision.

In Cheshire, Redrow, one of Britain's biggest house-builders,

have put in a second application for 1,500 homes

on this greenfield site in Ellesmere Port.

Local residents fought Redrow's first application

for 2,000 houses on the site, only two months ago...

Don't cross the road.

..and claimed a victory when it was turned down on a Highways issue

at planning committee.

OK, let's cross over.

Led by 74-year-old Graham Penness,

they've reformed to take on Redrow for round two.

We've submitted a 40-page objection which includes several

pages on traffic and highways. Just about get through there.

Well, you just have to look down here. Everybody parks on one side.

When people park on this side,

you can't get any vans or big vehicles going through.

It's just ridiculous.

You add 3,000 to 4,000 more cars up and down,

that must surely be an impact.

And when and if the development starts,

70 of those per day will be coming up to get into the site.

Redrow have actually said in their fairy story that people

will take to more cycling and walking.

And that's what they expect.

If you were walking or even trying to cycle on this road,

then you'd take your life in your own hands.

-OK?

-Safe.

-I think we're all right. No, no. No. Look out for these cars.

The proposed estate would cover 105 hectares of agricultural land

used to grow crops.

Just contemplating all of this, instead of being green,

is just concrete and different coloured brick.

They just have the same fairy stories about garden villages

and things like that.

It's not going to look any different to any estate

anywhere across the country.

Lots of little tacky red boxes.

Graham and his neighbours need strong planning reasons

to get the houses refused.

We looked hard for the newts.

Because every protest group in England

that's against a development looks for great crested newts!

-They're not great crested?

-No, a lot of people have got newts,

but they're not necessarily great crested newts.

But the Ledsham residents do have an endangered species on their side.

This is what it's all about.

This is what you'll be destroying, basically,

if you start developing land around here.

There's five chicks and two adults.

They've got all the land around them with all their food supplies.

If they do start building, then that food supply is going to vanish.

You're going to destroy their habitat.

The developers recognise that barn owls are a protected species.

So they have come up with what they call a mitigation plan.

Although it may look good on paper,

"Oh, we'll move them somewhere else just down the road,"

there's no guarantee that they will actually go there.

You're talking about wildlife.

Wildlife and nature doesn't read books or pamphlet.

Or mitigation proposals. It does whatever it has to do.

And that may or may not agree with whatever the developer says.

Of itself, it won't stop the development, obviously.

But it is another piece of the jigsaw.

And we've built a jigsaw of objections.

Now, of course, they're trying to unpick our jigsaw again.

We're determined not to let that happen.

But the fate of the fields will be in the hands of the planning committee.

Now, nothing has changed with this current plan.

Other than the fact that there are 500 less homes to be provided.

Now, as far as we're concerned, every councillor on that committee

that refused it the last time should equally refuse it this time.

17 miles away in the Cheshire market town of Frodsham,

Steve O'Connor's plans for two modern houses

are attracting more complaints.

"Sore thumb". "Alien." "Blot on the landscape."

"To avoid these becoming Frodsham's very own carbuncles

"is really quite simple."

Carbuncles, maybe that's what we'll call them.

That might be a good name for the houses!

Steve's radical new homes could sell for a combined

total of £1.4 million.

But if Cheshire West and Chester's planning committee turn

his application down, he'll lose the £50,000 he spent on planning fees.

There isn't anything of real substance, you know,

that jumps out and would give you real concerns.

The planners probably get a lot of complaints like this.

You know, they're probably categorised into what is

a genuine planning concern and what is just a rant.

Planner Nial Casselden has decided on his recommendation

for Steve's scheme.

He's on his way to see objector Dennis to break the news.

We have given the application a lot of consideration

-and we will be recommending approval.

-All right.

This obviously is not an ideal situation from my point of view.

Certainly, yeah. It fits into the pattern of development

-in the area, in our opinion.

-It's next to the conservation area.

And the planning department could only say "it does not detract",

which is not wonderful.

Arguably not, but I mean, you're not going to read the whole area

-and go, "That sticks out."

-Why? I think you will, won't you?

They're going to be to the top of her roof, aren't they?

I'm trying to understand what is good about it.

In the balance, we feel that it's adding to the area.

I strongly believe that we've made the right recommendation.

Of course, it's going to boil down to what the councillors think.

They get the final say. So they could easily turn round

and say that they think that we're completely wrong.

Councillors will meet in three days' time to decide the fate

of the application.

He certainly hasn't convinced me,

because I don't think he really had an argument.

I think the planning department has said, "It looks OK," you know,

"We can widen the spectrum of design,"

and, you know, "Let's move on."

Obviously I will put it to committee and keep banging on about it!

In the village of Butterrow near Stroud, there's an application

to turn some agricultural land into a builder's yard.

The only way to get to the proposed site would be

down Butterrow Lane, a two and a half mile long single track road.

35 Butterrow residents have formally objected to the application...

What a fuss about a foot!

..including 74-year-old Bernard Humberstone.

Is that ten foot? A couple of feet in size. Not much for a car.

Virtually nothing either side.

You get a lot of tipper trucks like builders have

and that, it would be very close.

One car coming down there, another car's not going to get past it.

So you have to be able to go somewhere.

And as it goes further on, it gets far more narrow that up there. Oh!

He's stuck! There you are. Now you're really seeing it.

And this is the local farmer.

At the end of the day, you choose to live here, you live by its rules.

And the farmer's got every right to get to his fields

and his animals, fine.

It's the add-ons that we're fighting against, isn't it?

It's what we're objecting against, really.

And the add-ons are more builders' trucks

and other people that don't live here.

The residents need strong planning reasons to get the

application refused,

so they've lobbied parish councillor Aleck Miskin,

whose recent successes include getting Highways

to lower the speed limit on the lane.

A car going at 20mph is no problem.

You can still be part of the community, I mean, the people driving

up down at 20, they can wind their window down and say hello, you know.

When you're coming down here at 40, you're just a threat

and you have to just, you know, hope for something that doesn't hit you.

If we get speed limits down, we also get the wildlife back.

The other campaigns at the parish council we've had is to try and get...

That's one of the disadvantages of the 20mph speed limits

cos the cats don't get caught.

You know, cos fewer cats means more birds.

I don't dislike cats per se but, erm,

I must say their habits are unpleasant.

-You know, they kill the wildlife and they

-BLEEP

-in my vegetable garden.

I think the reason I got into being a parish councillor is

I got fed up with being mown down and, erm...

Well, you can see here a lorry knocked all this lot down

and didn't stop. Which is quite usual.

So everybody is quite keen to minimise vehicle traffic.

The lanes are just really not suitable for cars

but you can use them so long as you drive carefully.

But, erm, if you're not driving carefully, it's no good.

To assess the impact the builder's yard might have on the roads,

the planners want Highway's officer Chris Baynham to give his verdict.

We allow, as part of our standard,

2.4m to allow for the bonnet of the vehicle.

One, two, two and a bit.

That's approximately 2.4.

Now, for it to be acceptable,

I would have to be able to see 20m that way

and 20m that way.

Which you can't.

The only way they'll achieve it

is if they were to remove the hedge completely.

Butterrow Lane has a restriction on the weight of traffic

that can use this.

So the surface isn't meant for lots of heavy lorries

and things to go over it,

turn on it, scuff it up

and we don't have a budget

for coming out and repairing it.

It just doesn't present a safe and suitable access for all users.

Two weeks later, Chris has submitted his Highways report.

Head of planning Phil Skill can now make his decision.

We've decided with the Butterrow Lane applications

to refuse it on this occasion.

So the first refusal reason is

that the Highways network isn't

suitable for this use in this location

and the access onto the site, particularly, is dangerous.

And then the second refusal reason is to do with

the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

and the way in which the builders' yard itself will...

Well, to be quite honest, look butt-ugly

in the landscape at that point.

I'm afraid that sometimes, schemes are just...

so ludicrous...

that they get the death stamp.

Planners can take extreme measures to develop

and regenerate our towns and cities.

When buildings fall into disrepair, they have the power to buy them

outright, regardless of the willingness of the owners.

In North Wales, head planner Graham Boase wants to take such

drastic action on a grand scale.

The first thing is when you see it, it strikes you what

a fantastic building it is and such a great setting.

It's a marvellous setting here in the open countryside.

But then the second thing you think of when you see it is, it kind

of breaks your heart that it's in such a bad and neglected condition.

Together with conservation architect Phil Ebbrell,

Graham's been trying to save the grade II star listed

Denbigh Hospital from ruin for nearly a decade.

It's decaying, it's falling down

and I think we need to something about it.

Everybody in North Wales has heard about Denbigh Hospital.

It served the whole of North Wales

and, erm, it's said to be the finest

purpose-built hospital in Wales.

Nearly 40% of the town's population were employed by the hospital.

And since it closed, some former employees have formed

a historical society to preserve its memories.

That's me in my youth.

We wore white coats and epaulettes

and the epaulettes denoted what your rank was.

Charge nurse, there.

There I am on the left there.

So that would be about '64, '65, that'd be.

I were the one who actually closed the door the very last day

and it was... It was very moving.

1,500 patients with wide-ranging psychiatric conditions

were looked after by 1,000 staff members.

It was a very important part of the town until it closed.

Everybody I knew had a relative who worked there.

It was entwined with the make-up of the town,

the psychic of the town and the economy of the town.

The hospital closed in 1995

and was sold at auction in 2002 for £310,000

to a private company.

They applied for planning permission to build houses in the grounds,

which would pay to develop the hospital building,

then transferred the ownership to a company based

in the British Virgin Isles.

Planning permission was granted in 2006

but for the next four years, the owners did nothing.

All the lead had been removed from the roof, the water was pouring

through and that was damaging the roof's structure, which was timber.

There was rampant dry rot throughout the structure.

In 2011, the planners had no alternative

but to take statutory action against the owners.

They won a settlement of £1.9 million to pay for repairs.

We put a temporary roof on this part of the building

and it's a corrugated steel roof and it will be removed

and a slate roof put on at a later date.

The reason we carried out those urgent works

is that very reason, they were urgent.

If we hadn't have done those works, there was a significant danger

of parts of that building collapsing and being lost forever.

The planners now want to issue a compulsory purchase order,

which would allow them to buy the building for a nominal fee

without the owner's consent.

And the next stage for us is to compulsory purchase

the building and pass it on to a building preservation trust.

And the building preservation trust will then own the site

and they'll be able to apply for planning permission

for enabling development on the outskirts of the site

and with the capital receipts,

invest and save this marvellous, listed building.

With repair costs mounting to an estimated £10 million,

several attempts to enforce the development of the hospital

all failed and communication between the planners

and the owner has broken down.

We've had periods when the key holder would allow us on site

and then periods when we're not allowed on site, as is the case now.

Hello. I hope you're not filming me or my vehicle.

Go on, go on.

I've told you. I've told you about this, you know.

I don't think it's funny at all.

This is kind of part of the problem that we face,

in that we're not sure who turns up here or who's the owners,

who has responsibility for it.

We keep talking to people and we don't seem to be getting anywhere.

And that was indicative of some of the problems,

although not usually as aggressive as that, I have to say.

The people who own it - it's a company that's registered in the British Virgin Isles -

we've never even met them. These are faceless people.

They bought this asset and they're sitting on it

and doing nothing with it.

This is a listed building,

it's listed because of its national importance.

And you know, it's wrong.

It's almost criminal that they've been allowed to do that

and we as a local authority are determined to use the powers

under our control to go in there

and do our best to return this to what it should be,

a national treasure and an asset for the town of Denbigh and the local people.

In Cheshire, Redrow's application to build 1,500 homes

on agricultural land has been referred to the planning committee.

Head planner Fiona Edwards is recommending

the scheme for approval.

The biggest change with this new application is they've reduced

the number of houses, so they've come down to about 1,500 from 2,000.

The officer recommendation on the first application was for approval,

so for us there is no reason to change that recommendation.

But for members,

it'll make it perhaps

a more palatable decision for them.

Whilst Fiona believes the site to be suitable, she can only recommend.

The elected councillors who previously turned

the scheme down will have to decide

if permission should be granted in the face of local opposition.

On a planning committee, we've no friends.

No-one wants that housing built by their village, by their town,

behind the houses where they live.

The members come from a variety of backgrounds,

including a retired policeman and a former teacher.

My family has lived here for 400 years, yeah.

So...

Down this one.

Yeah, right...

No, no, there!

The scheme is one of the biggest

they've had to consider in the last four years.

You're looking at 3,000, 3,500 people,

4,000 people living there, aren't you? As a site.

-You're looking at another village, essentially.

-Yeah.

Before making any decision,

councillors like to see the site for themselves.

-Perhaps we'll get out and have a quick...

-I am not.

It's raining, I don't do rain.

But sometimes they have to see it from the bus.

Redrow have already appealed against the previous committee's decision,

which turned down their first application for 2,000 homes.

Planning committees are like herding cats.

Erm...you are...

I wouldn't be confident that it'll go through next time at all.

I know logically it should go through.

There are certain elected members who...

quite frankly, act irresponsibly.

You can't bury your head in the sand and say, you know,

"We don't want homes, we don't want this. Go away, you nasty developers."

We're here to build homes for people to live in and there is a huge, huge demand.

We've got the lowest build rate in the western world.

Come on, guys, get real. We need to build.

In the Cheshire town of Frodsham,

plans to build two modern homes have not gone down well

with 54-year-old Dennis Rowley.

He's spent the weekend preparing his speech for the planning committee.

My job is basically to plant a seed of doubt in their minds

and to make them think and think carefully,

rather than just blindly following the planning department's recommendation.

To consider the impact it's going to have

and are there genuinely good reasons for this impact to happen?

Several objections from residents like Dennis can only mean one thing.

The committee members are back on the bus.

That's so we're not claiming when we shouldn't.

-Are you in charge of the snacks, or...?

-Refreshments yes. Wine gums.

Would you like one?

Led by planner Adrian Crowther,

they must visit the site before making their decision.

The first property effectively runs along this area here

and the second one is pretty much where you're stood there.

What's going to be affected visually?

Residents of Netherson Drive, sort of round the side there,

feel it's going to be affected.

Councillors have to consider local objection

but it's not always a reason to refuse planning permission.

Look at this house here.

That one has to have been frightfully modern in its time.

I think it's a fantastic opportunity

to make something outstanding

that should offend very few people

and give delight to the people who might live in it.

It'll be a difficult one.

I think it'll go down to the wire on the vote.

Dennis is determined to stop the scheme from going ahead.

OK, I'm going to go for a print.

In Cheshire, objectors are allowed just three minutes

to argue their case but for Dennis, there's a problem.

This is the revised version of my presentation to the council.

Erm, at the last minute somebody else has come forward, which is not ideal.

In the council's wisdom, they decided that we could have 90 seconds each.

Dennis must now share his allotted time.

You know that things are stacked against you.

90 seconds, it was to make three points, it's now down to two points.

But on the day, you know, things can happen.

The planners are recommending that the committee approve permission.

I feel our recommendation is pretty strong and the justification

is definitely there but I never try and second guess members.

They should back the officer's recommendation. I think that's, erm...

That is the role of the planning committee unless something new comes through.

I'm an Accrington Stanley season ticket holder, so I'm well

versed in uphill battles and...

it depends on these 11 good people.

Planning application number...

13-01647-4.

Right, we've got two objectors.

Miss Denise Rowley

and a Miss Sarah Woosley, is it?

Denise, would you like to come forward?

-Mr Rowley, it's Dennis Rowley, actually.

-Sorry, my eyes...

-These things happen, I suppose.

-Sorry.

-OK.

Policy framework states innovation should not be stifled.

Innovation is the act of introducing something new.

Innovation to the planning department is questioning your perception.

Erecting a Japanese pagoda or a Mongolian yurt would

question your perception, but it wouldn't be innovation.

Innovation is really producing something that is substantially better.

So, is it?

The best the planning department can say is it'll not be detrimental.

Hardly ringing endorsements for an innovation

because it is not an innovation.

You've excellent grounds for refusal without

even considering its gross incompatibility with

the existing landscape and this is a serious concern in itself.

Please will you refuse this application? Thank you.

Thank you very much for timing it so well.

Steve's agent,

Paul Entwhistle, has the opportunity to address Dennis's objection.

You will be aware that there are no outstanding objections from

Highways, Conservation, your tree officers, Ecology,

Landscape or Greenspace.

On that basis I ask that you support your officer's recommendation

and approve this planning application, thank you.

After hearing from both sides, the councillors debate the application.

I spent my formative years going to school opposite this site.

Erm, and I must admit, it was quite emotional to go back

to look at those houses.

And when we saw the design that was to go behind the original house,

oh, dear.

I think it's awful, they're awful and so at this moment,

I don't think I can support this application.

The first signs are good for Dennis and Liz.

This design does not reinforce local distinctiveness

and I'm going to propose refusal based on that.

But next to talk is councillor Merca Bailey,

who's newly elected to the committee.

And it's been said a few times this evening that

it is of unsuitable design.

Now, I completely disagree, it's different and it's modern.

You can't expect things to not move forward

with the times that we're in.

So at the moment I'm mindful to approve this,

unless somebody can give me a proper solid planning reason why not to.

Thank you, councillor.

The harm here is absolutely minimal when balanced against

a person's right to build a home to their own taste.

Where it is not inflicting harm on others,

we should not get in the way of it, I'm moving approval.

We're going to move to the vote.

All those in favour of approval, please show.

Against?

Cleared and carried.

Thank you very much.

Obviously people feel passionate about what they wanted to see there

and, you know, we don't take any pleasure in them

being uncomfortable with what's been, erm...

what's been decided.

It didn't start well when I was actually called Denise, but, erm...

Oh, yes.

-I mean, it's obviously out of our hands now...

-Yeah.

-..and you have to move on.

-You have to move on with grace.

It's a disappointment but I think the councillors were hellbent on granting permission.

I think had I been Rumpole of the Bailey and given them an hour,

I wouldn't have had any effect on them.

I think they were quite set and determined.

So now we've had our Neil Armstrong giant leap for Frodsham's architecture,

erm, we will live with it.

In Denbigh, the planners are keen to take drastic action against

the owners of this grade II star listed hospital,

which has fallen into disrepair.

They took statutory action against the owners

and won a settlement for £1.9 million.

They want to use some of these funds to issue a compulsory purchase order,

forcing the owners to sell the building for a nominal fee.

I think compulsory purchase order is basically the last resort.

Now, the council will be criticised if it stands back and does nothing

and this building collapses and every one will ask,

"Well, where were the council? Why didn't the council step in and do something?"

Of course, the other side is now we are stepping in and doing something

and people will be asking the question, "Is this the right thing to do? Why is the council doing it?

"Isn't there other powers?"

We've exhausted every other avenue.

The compulsory purchase order will ultimately be granted by

the Secretary of State but now Graham needs to convince the elected

members of the planning committee to start proceedings.

They're quite hungry.

Committee member Rhys Hughes was born and bred in Denbighshire.

Come on!

33 years I've been looking after sheep

and been on the planning committee for 10 years, I think.

And thoroughly enjoy it.

Don't always agree what the officers recommend but...

I think that's healthy not to agree sometimes.

It's been a running saga, the Denbigh Hospital.

The emotional attachment from the Denbigh area is phenomenal

and, of course, you have to respect that.

But sometimes you have to stand back and look at it objectively

and make decisions, try not to get too emotionally involved.

It's a listed building, and we're always told at committee there's

a duty of care that's in Denbighshire,

it'll fall back on us at the end.

Well, actually, you've got to weigh up...

if somebody actually did buy it,

what are we doing trying to compulsory purchase it?

And that company will fight, I am sure, tooth and nail, to retain the property.

So, we're on a road to collision which is going to cost.

That's my main worry, is the cost.

And at the end of the day, we may not win.

And who's going to have egg on their faces then?

Planners and committee members don't always agree.

When you're on a long road,

there are various hurdles you have to get over.

'It's our recommendation that we take the CPO,

'but ultimately, it's in the hands of members.'

Is Peter Evans here? Is he here?

If you're confident in your case and you've presented your case

and you understand all the issues, which I think we do,

and we communicate those clearly to members, hopefully,

we'll get the authorisation to carry on with the CPO.

If our recommendation is taken forward, we know where we're going.

If it's not, if members vote against it, that's the democratic process,

we regroup and we decide how best to move forward after that.

With repairs estimated at £10 million,

the fate of Denbigh Hospital is in the hands of the 19 local

councillors who make up the planning committee.

These members come from a variety of backgrounds,

including a shepherd, a retired nurse and a surveyor.

So the report we have in front of you is seeking authorisation from this

committee to make a compulsory purchase order

on the site of the former North Wales Hospital in Denbigh.

For me, the fundamental issue is it is sitting dead at the moment.

And what we have to make sure is that if we're pushing forward with planning permission,

it has an economic benefit for Denbigh and the surrounding areas.

Now it's the turn of local shepherd, Councillor Rhys Hughes,

who has been on the planning committee for ten years

and has already expressed opposition to the proposal.

I would like to know what actually happens if we do nothing.

If we sit on our hands and do nothing.

It's 30 years now since this place closed.

There are generations now in this county who know nothing about it.

To them, possibly, it is a heap of old stones.

If we do nothing, we lose the building.

Can I also say that doing nothing means that the building gets worse and worse?

Part of it has already collapsed.

People are getting into the building nevertheless.

The building is contaminated with asbestos.

So there is a very real public danger if we do nothing.

I think we need to go to the vote now. It's going to be...

In a push of a button, the committee will decide

if the 160-year-old hospital has a future.

..CPO procedure, please vote now.

18 to one - permission is granted.

Councillor Rhys Hughes was the only member to

go against the planners' recommendation.

I voted against because there's a history behind this building.

A history of problems.

'I do wonder in this time of this austerity - and there's not a lot of money about -'

maybe it's time to step back.

The council can now begin compulsory purchase order proceedings,

and work to preserve the building could start in the next 18 months.

Redrow's housing application in Cheshire is one of the biggest

the planning committee have had to consider in the last four years.

The land for development at Sutton New Hall Farm is the largest

remaining greenfield site in Ellesmere Port.

If permission is granted, tenant farmers June

and David Reed will lose their livelihood and their home.

Leave it a bit longer yet, I think.

I think it's a listed building, so they'd have to sort of...

-obviously, renovate it.

-Or make apartments or something.

Yeah, make it into apartments or something like that.

But they've got some grand designs for it.

-1991, we came here, didn't we?

-'91, yeah.

-'91.

-So we'll lose our home.

-It might not go through.

You can't go thinking of buying somewhere else or even

thinking about it if you don't know definitely, can you? You know...

We'll have time to do it when...

You are in limbo a bit until you find out exactly what will happen.

Can't make plans, can't make plans.

You know, not going to find anywhere like this again, are we?

Another firm like this.

I don't think there's any farms as good as this anyway, land-wise.

No.

Tonight, the planning committee will determine the fate of the green fields

and David and June's future.

First, the objectors get their chance.

74-year-old Graham Penness has been leading the action

group opposing the application.

The application you have before you

is indeed a resubmission

of the plan unanimously rejected less than six months ago.

So what has changed to warrant its reappearance so soon?

Oh, the number of houses have been reduced to in the region of 1,500.

This reduction in numbers will still generate over 3,000 extra vehicles

into the surrounding estate roads.

We therefore urge you to come to the same conclusion reached less

than six months ago and refuse this flawed

and aspirational plan which residents neither want nor need.

Next, Redrow's senior planning manager David O'Reilly has to try

and win over the committee.

Transports cannot be held

against this proposal.

The impacts from this development will not be severe.

This conclusion is based on evidence...

SARCASTIC LAUGHTER

This conclusion is based on evidence using tested methodology and is

a conclusion shared by our transport consultants and the Highways Agency.

We would like to confirm that we have submitted an appeal

in respect to the 2,000-home scheme.

If consent is granted, free from challenge, Redrow will withdraw

the appeal to secure this scheme and provide certainty for all.

If the committee lost at appeal,

the council could run into hundreds of thousands of pounds in costs.

So, traffic issues, congestion.

In regards to the congestion statement,

we batted a few numbers back and forth.

We finally agreed what the numbers were

and concurred that we expect that the impact will not be a severe impact.

I have to say... LAUGHTER

Excuse me, Ken. Excuse me.

Ladies and gentlemen, please, please, do not interrupt. Thank you.

Before the vote, Councillor Claydon opens the debate.

It just...

It just doesn't make any sense to pass this, because we're being...

It's veiled threats, but the threats are there.

The committee is being threatened that if we don't pass this,

then, well, they've already gone to appeal on the other one

and they might get the other one.

Well, I say let them go to appeal on it.

I think that what we've got is robust enough to argue it.

And I don't think they'll win on appeal.

We heard from the highway officer who, I have to say,

his report didn't give me a huge amount of confidence. Erm...

That "we batted a few numbers back and forth

"and then we adjusted the figures".

LAUGHTER

Is that... Is that what we do now?

And because we've changed at all, the impact is "not severe".

All of us who have been on... certainly on planning over the last three years,

have lived with making some horrible decisions.

It's the national planning policy framework.

It virtually takes the legs away of all of us,

and we've turned down things which were then overturned at appeal.

It is a tragedy we live with, and I think people just have

to recognise that it is the decision of this government

to actually force these sorts of planning applications through.

Have some courage!

ATTENDEES SHOUT OUT

Excuse me, excuse me, Councillor Armstrong, please carry on.

It is not about personal courage.

We're here to make decisions based on the information before us,

and that's the difficulty that everybody is in.

It is a very troubling decision to take.

We have a vote for refusal from Councillor Powell, seconded by Angela Claydon.

Can we go to a vote, please?

All those in favour of refusal, please show.

-Two, Chairman.

-Those against.

CLAMOUR

-Those who abstain?

-Two abstentions, Chairman.

The proposal is defeated.

-Disgraceful. Shame.

-It's disgraceful!

With five votes to two and two abstentions,

the application is passed.

-Disgusting.

-Totally stitched up.

-No democracy in this country.

Anyone who hasn't got - literally, I mean, I don't care if it's on camera of not -

hasn't got the balls to actually vote is just...doesn't...

Shouldn't hold office, shouldn't hold office.

Just two hands going up, you know.

Should be ashamed of themselves. It was all cut and dried, that was. Complete and utter waste of time.

We're not happy at spending the rest of our lives on a building site.

Or at least with one where we can see, hear, breathe dust,

noise and everything that goes with it. And I'm not joking.

I mean, I don't know how old Stuart is. I'm 77 in February.

I rest my case.

Little Sutton is where I am from,

where my family have lived for 400 years.

And this was the last big greenfield development in Little Sutton,

so I'm very disappointed.

I think it's the right result.

If they didn't vote this through,

it left a lot of other sites a lot more vulnerable,

so, you know, you can't duck the issue that you need housing.

You need housing, it has got to go somewhere.

This time, they've done the responsible thing.

I was totally disillusioned by it and no-one sort of paid any

attention to the quality of the land here and the wildlife.

When I listened to the speech Redrow gave, more or less

saying they'd put back in for 2,000 if they didn't get one, it...

You know, I was expecting it.

With it being thrown out a couple of months ago,

I thought it was all done and dusted.

I thought this second meeting was just a foregone conclusion

and it would be the same result.

I didn't know everything would be loaded against us the way it was.

I was just totally devastated.

Next time,

a father makes the ultimate sacrifice to stop a development...

The farmers don't want it, the neighbours don't want it.

James would lie down in front of the first bulldozer that came along.

Yeah.

..a new-build spoils the view for a Cotswold resident...

It's just hideous. Just like a Colditz watchtower that I've got to

stop at and show a pass to.

..and a planning consultant who has an unusual approach to winning

over the planners.

We can either get on or do it the hard way, I suppose.