Episode 6 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.

Here we are, with a massive planning application.

It is a big project.

You're talking about 270 million of economic benefit.

I mean, 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.

-Boo!

-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.

Well, it's not a fence. It's railings, basically.

Tonight, residents see red over a proposed new housing development.

That is our history

and that's what they want to put all this housing on.

Ugh, developer...

Locals don't want to see a new business venture get off the ground.

Hovercrafting, it's noise pollution.

It's not an accepted thing in a quiet little town.

And a constituent loses faith in democracy.

I don't know about the law being an ass.

I think the council's an ass.

In Britain, planners aren't always alone

when they make their decisions.

25 statutory consultees,

including the Department of Transport

and the Environment Agency

must have their say

when planning applications affect their jurisdiction.

In Hertfordshire, 55-year-old ex-brickie Lee Williamson

lives in this six bedroom mock Georgian mansion

that he designed and built from scratch eight years ago.

It's just a classical Georgian country house style

that's faithfully reproduced.

This is obviously the entrance hall.

The whole house was designed around this cantilevered staircase.

Lee made his millions as a major property developer,

building high-class housing estates across the borough

and specialising in creating lavish homes for the rich and famous.

I enjoy building what I call footballers' wives' houses.

We do the whole spectrum,

from first-time buyers up to a property of this level.

But Lee's next planning application

is far from a fairytale fantasy pad.

In fact, this time, he's pitching left of field.

In 2009, Lee took on a new business venture.

He leased non-league football club Cheshunt FC from Broxbourne Council

and one of his four children, 34-year-old Dean,

gave up a job in the City

to work as the chairman of the dilapidated club.

-INTERVIEWER:

-What's the caravan?

That...at the moment, it's our on-site security,

although he's off in Bulgaria at the moment.

HE LAUGHS

So, not very secure.

The club came with £120,000 of debts that Lee had to repay.

I can show you the director's box - there you go.

It's not all prawn sandwiches and leather seats.

And he's already spent over £400,000 making alterations,

including refurbishing the old clubhouse.

We think we've achieved something just by doing this.

At least the wives and girlfriends are happier to come in here.

But the clubhouse is just the beginning.

Lee and Dean want to turn this run-down club

into a local centre of sporting excellence,

with a football academy and state-of-the-art training facilities

to attract new players and boost revenue.

But a top quality club needs top quality pitches

and the four at Cheshunt are on an old landfill site.

The landfill was in operation in the late '30s, early '40s

and it was used for inert waste,

so that's waste that, once it's buried, remains unaltered,

so glass, brick, stone, concrete.

It's all made its way to the surface.

So that is extremely dangerous

for any team or child playing a sport.

We have had cases of broken ankles,

which is caused by the undulations in the ground

and we've also had minor cuts and abrasions,

but it could be far worse.

It only needs a piece of rebar from a piece of concrete

to come up through the surface -

somebody does a slide tackle,

they can quite easily slice open a leg.

So Lee and Dean have come up with a solution.

They have spent £50,000

on a planning application to improve the pitches

by bringing in 100,000 cubic metres of soil.

Our proposals are to import clean, Environment Agency-approved soil

to the site

to level off the pitches and provide what would be

first-class training facilities for football development.

There have been no local objections to the £1 million project,

but that doesn't mean Lee and Dean are on the home straight.

Planner Rob Webster will be refereeing the application.

You can tell by my physique

that I'm not the most...athletic of people.

A refusal from Rob could cost Lee and Dean

the £500,000 they have invested so far.

It's a bargain!

Today, Rob is assessing whether bringing such a large amount of soil

into the football grounds could cause potential problems.

What's proposed as part of the application is, um...

In theory, it's not that complicated.

It's essentially bringing in a fairly significant amount of soil

to bring the level of the rest of the site up by...

It probably averages about a metre.

In some places, it's a bit more, about two metres higher.

Having visited the site,

Rob finds out he can't make a decision on his own.

The volume of earth is so great

that the application will also need the approval

of the Highways Department.

At the peak of bringing earth in,

I think it's something like 50 lorries a day -

that will be one to think about.

As the demand for land increases,

developers are coming up with innovative ways to build new homes

on even the most challenging plots.

In Chester, Head Planner Fiona Edwards

is on her way to assess an unusual plot

in the historic village of Churton,

where some properties date back to the 17th century.

We'll have to wait for the bin lorry, I think.

Sometimes you think there's not a real great deal of urgency.

The application Fiona is considering

is to build a house at the base of a sandstone quarry

five metres below street level.

This is when you thank God it's not windy -

if this dropped into the bottom of the quarry,

I'm not sure how we'd get it out.

Could try abseiling, but I don't think I have any ropes.

This is a speculative build,

so to maximise profit from this difficult plot,

the developer has come up with a high-end, three-storey design.

Essentially, they'll come in at the top floor

and get all their living accommodation there.

Their kitchen, their living area,

their main space they would use every day

is going to be on the top floor.

But their bedroom space is on the lower ground floors,

if you like, so they'll be going downstairs to bed.

The house might be innovative,

but the design has proved unpopular with the locals.

The residents have described it as a spaceship,

which, I suppose, if you look at it at face value,

it does look a bit spaceship-like.

It's got a vaguely conical roof,

it's going to have to land within the plot, in effect.

I think it's human nature sometimes to...

..perhaps fear is too strong a word,

but dislike things that we don't understand.

I'm the alien, cos I'm the Welshwoman,

impinging on their Cheshire environment.

You know it's still illegal for a Welsh person

to be inside the city walls after ten o'clock at night?

They're allowed to shoot me - I'm sure a lot of them would love to.

But...it's a bit extreme.

I'm only half-Welsh, so that's my excuse.

65-year-old Barry Littler

is one of the six local villagers objecting to the scheme.

Jealous Pants now...get down, now.

Uh-uh-uh, come on, down, down.

Barry has lived next door to the proposed site

with his wife and two dogs, Bilbo and Ben, for 11 years.

You little devil - what have you got?

Come on, give it to me. Where did you get that from?

But this objector is hoping the project won't be approved,

as it is in a conservation area.

I put in plans for a conservatory and they said

it had to be made of mahogany to match the mahogany windows,

because we were in a conservation area.

It's cost me a lot of extra money to do it,

but they're planning to build a spaceship in the quarry -

it's just laughable, it really is.

And as planner Fiona prepares to give her recommendation,

she is also wondering whether the site is right

for this development.

A conservation area, the duty is not to conserve,

it's to preserve - there's a difference.

But it goes further than preserve. It goes from preserve to enhance.

Will a futuristic design be allowed in this traditional setting?

Fiona will give her recommendation in two weeks.

There are 33 Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the UK -

protected land where construction of new houses is restricted.

But as the country faces an unprecedented housing shortage,

these too are being considered for development.

Just outside Stroud in Gloucestershire,

Head Planner Phil Skill is assessing an application to build 100 homes

inside England's largest Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty -

the Cotswolds.

I'm going to have a public enquiry into who decided to do this

at 12 o'clock on the hottest day of the year.

Me and heat don't go well together.

Phil is visiting Rodborough Fields

with colleagues Darrell Rodgers and Laura Humphries.

This is Rodborough Field's key wildlife site,

which is part of this field and then the fields beyond, over there.

That's a community asset.

There has been strong local opposition to the scheme,

but the planners need to assess whether it's suitable

for this greenfield site.

Where you actually have a development of this size

butting up to an established housing estate -

which, for many years, has had this vista,

has this view out over the meadows -

you're bound to get friction between the two parties.

One of our roles is to try and smooth that out

so we get to the underlying issues -

what harm would the development do and is that harm too much?

In the housing estate backing onto Rodborough Fields,

one man is leading the fight

to stop the new development from going ahead.

Always said, "Right - I'm going to learn the guitar."

There you go.

48-year-old Rob Griffiths is a father of four.

My kids, just before this all came out,

got me some little guitar lessons,

so I know some basic chords, which was really great.

No, no, magic...

That's a C.

But it's about having the time to do it.

It's embarrassing, really.

Recently, Rob's leisure activities have been sidelined

for a more pressing cause.

Rob is the Chair of the Rodborough Fields Preservation Group,

the action group defending this key wildlife site

which is home to many protected species.

This is a wild meadow.

Prince Charles, he's trying to start up 60 wild meadow fields.

Well, we've got one here that a developer wants to build on.

Stop him building on it.

Ugh, developer...

The developer in question is a seasoned pro

at the planning process.

Lioncourt Homes is a multimillion pound property company

who build around 100 family homes a year

in the Midlands and Central England.

The man who'll determine the outcome of their latest application

is Head of Planning Phil Skill.

In the next 20 years, we've got to build around 9,000-10,000 houses.

What you've got to remember is the council doesn't build those -

the developers do.

My role is to allocate that land.

The Rodborough Fields site could be a suitable area for development.

The site's got quite a few things going for it.

It's going to bring 100 houses to Stroud and much-needed homes.

30% of those are going to affordable,

so they're going to be houses for rent

or to purchase at a reduced price.

It's right on the edge of Stroud town itself,

so on sustainability,

it's probably got quite a few ticks in those boxes.

But for objector Rob Griffiths and other local residents,

these fields do more than tick boxes.

Be careful as you go across the road!

They're part of their local history.

Stroud is really known for the Stroud Scarlet,

which is the red cloth, military cloth

that was dried in these fields.

We live in this unique area,

this blend of industrial history and beautiful nature.

It's what the fields stand for. It's the history of our town.

And we need to stand up and fight for that.

In the 18th century, Stroud Scarlet clothed the Redcoats

who fought rebellious American colonists.

In a bid to highlight their cause, Rob and his red army of residents

are marching through the very same field

that was once used to dry the scarlet cloth.

Why not build homes on brownfield sites

so that these new families will also be able

to feel a part of it all?

For Rob's army, if this field is built on,

a piece of English history would be lost

and they are determined to do whatever it takes to save it.

By the time this development is finished,

this whole side of the valley will be gone

and it'll be gone for ever, then.

You won't be able to put it back. It'll just be gone.

Back in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire,

34-year-old entrepreneur Dean Williamson

wants to double the club's revenues

by building seven new football pitches.

This is the moment of truth.

Ah, it's come out the wrong way round.

LAUGHING: Typical!

Dean and his father Lee have applied for planning permission

to bring in 100,000 cubic metres of soil for the new pitches.

The council is currently considering their application.

What we can do here - that's what really drives me.

If we can have all of our academies

and Astroturf pitches and improvements,

it'll be fantastic for the club, for the local town of Cheshunt.

With around 50 heavy goods vehicles

needing to access the grounds every day to bring in the soil,

Highways officer Matt Armstrong will need to determine

what effect that will have on the local road network.

When I tell people I work for the Highway Authority, quite often,

their eyes will glaze over.

I don't think it's the most interesting of jobs to other people.

The earth needed for this development

would travel up the A10,

one of the major routes in and out of London.

About 50,000 vehicles a day use it, which is a lot.

But personally, I'm very protective of roads like this, the A10.

Just to make sure that no development

would...do any harm, really.

There's about 100,000 cubic metres of soil

being brought into the site to remodel the pitches.

That's going to be 11,000 heavy goods vehicle movements.

When you break that down,

you're talking about six vehicle movements an hour

coming in and out of the site, which is quite a lot.

Matt's recommendation will be crucial.

If the plans aren't approved,

the applicants stand to lose their £500,000 investment.

If you imagine a...a heavy goods vehicle,

perhaps carrying up to 20 tonnes of soil coming down here,

and, as it turns in, the front cabin would be overshooting

all the way around here.

It can't help it, and then if you have a vehicle here,

the lorry obviously can't do that.

So, for example, something of that size would come right out

onto this bit of the carriageway.

I just think it would really create a situation of danger, to be honest.

The potential consequences are huge.

You could be talking, I suppose, at the very worst case scenario,

a fatality.

I think on that basis I'm going to recommend to the planner

that it's refused at this stage.

In Cheshire, a developer has applied for planning permission

to build a contemporary, three storey house on an old quarry.

This site is in the small village of Churton,

a conservation area which boasts some historical properties

dating back hundreds of years.

The developer has already withdrawn one application

after the planners recommended refusal of the scheme's design.

But head planner Fiona Edwards

has now come to a decision about the new plans.

We feel, as officers,

that this enhances the character and appearance

of the conservation area. Yes, it's different, but it fits in.

So, the recommendation that we will make

is that this application is approved.

But we'll wait and see what members decide to do with it

when we get before planning committee.

Chester's planning committee is made up of 11 elected councillors

including a farmer and a rock salt producer,

who have the power to go against a planning officer's advice.

It's been a very long day.

I started at - what? Quarter past seven this morning.

And I've got another meeting this evening,

so I'll probably get home about half past eight.

I left home at quarter to eight this morning.

And I've got another meeting as well.

It's all part of the democratic process.

Before making a decision, the committee visit every site.

The report can explain a certain amount,

but there's nothing like seeing it in the flesh.

Planner Nial Casselden is showing the group around the quarry site.

-How are you going to get cars down there?

-I was going to say!

Where are they going to put the garage?

Is it going to be on a platform?

It's quite an engineering challenge to do all that.

It's one of the more unusual sights that you see,

that's for sure.

What if there was ice on the drive?

The car would get down very fast, wouldn't it?

Having seen the site,

have the committee been won over by the proposed house in the quarry?

There's no accounting for taste,

the lady said as she kissed the cow.

Well, we are seeing more and more of these grand designs,

and opinion is, in the right setting,

I think they're very interesting.

And the question here is, perhaps, is it in the right setting?

Planning can change people's lives - for the better or for the worse.

Just opposite the historic market town of Frodsham, Cheshire,

one man's business ambition is all riding on his planning application

getting the rubber stamp.

I miss flying jets.

It's the best job in the world, for me.

Ten years ago, 40-year-old Paul Hanks' military career

was cut short.

I was in the Royal Navy for eight years.

And while I was in the Navy

I was training to be a Navy Harrier Jump Jet pilot.

I was injured during training.

Two years' worth of physio, rehab, taking medication

wasn't conducive with flying jets at 420 knots,

so led to me being medically discharged.

Now Paul wants to turn his need for speed into a money making venture.

I've put planning application in for an outdoor activity centre,

down on the Frodsham Marshes.

Offer hovercraft buggies...

This 18 acre field sits next to a stretch of the M56 motorway

that has 100,000 vehicle movements a day.

The main reason for choosing this site was proximity to the motorway.

Because the activities that we're doing do generate noise,

we needed to be somewhere either a long way away from housing,

or the noise has to be masked by something else noisier,

like the motorway behind us.

So far, Paul has invested £2,000 on the application

for his business dream.

It's a good idea, it's got good potential.

It just needs the field, really. That's it, now.

Everything else is in place,

so provided we get the field sorted out, then we can get cracking.

Muddy trousers, everything.

It just goes with the territory.

As soon as a planning application is submitted,

it is assigned to one of the council's 25 case officers.

-Hi.

-How are you doing?

-Not too bad, thanks.

Phil Davies, Cheshire West

and Chester Borough Council's planning department.

Just come to do a quick site visit

-for your application for the hovercraft.

-Yeah.

What we're looking for, really,

is to whether or not the use of this land,

and obviously the noise that emanates from the hovercraft,

is going to be harmful to local residents.

It's something that everyone thinks will generate noise and nuisance,

but to give a good judgment on it, you've got to be there

and see it and hear it, and then perhaps make a more sound judgment.

We have got the M56 running past here,

which obviously is a very, very busy motorway.

After visiting the site,

Phil has decided to commission an independent sound survey

to help him make his decision.

But there's someone else who's already made up their mind

about Paul's business idea.

-I mean we like to see enterprise, but not on our doorstep.

-No.

66-year-old Jeffery Abnett...

Sit down, then.

..and neighbour Lynda Pointer live on a mobile home park

just over the other side of the M56.

Sit.

They're both rescue dogs.

She's 13, and she's 15.

They, along with 27 of the other residents in the park,

are determined to block Paul's dream business.

But quad biking and hovercrafting...

It's pollution, noise pollution.

It's not an accepted thing on a quiet little town.

We actually went up onto the motorway bridge,

and you could just hear the noise of the one hovercraft that he had

over the motorway traffic.

And the wind was in this direction,

so if he's got two or three hovercrafts going round,

the noise level could escalate if the wind was coming towards us.

I think we would be devastated if it went ahead.

Basically, Frodsham Park Homes are saying no.

In Gloucestershire, a multimillion pound developer

has applied for planning permission to build 100 new homes

on Rodborough Fields.

This large scale application

has been met with strong local opposition,

but head planner Phil Skill has housing targets to meet,

so he's taking some time out...

That's lousy.

..to contemplate the tough decision ahead.

This is like asking Beckham to get it in the top right-hand corner.

It's going to miss.

HE LAUGHS

It's very stressful sitting on that fence all the time

and listening to both sides of the argument.

You know, you've got developers on one side

with millions of pounds at stake,

and you've got communities where the beauty of the area

is at stake, and those passions are very high.

Here I just have to listen to about what somebody's latest car is,

or who won the last football match, which I don't really care about,

but I can have a drink...

and relax.

Serious face.

Concentration.

OK, that's not bad.

That'll do.

But for the lead objector, there's no time to relax.

I'm going to put the flag pole higher.

Give us a tie, and we'll come this side...

As a boy, Rob Griffiths used to play in Rodborough Fields.

He's campaigning to stop the scheme.

I suppose the design of the flag is our town crest, OK?

Our town crest is actually Rodborough Fields

with the scarlet cloth that is drying on it.

That is our Stroud badge, that is our history,

and that's what they want to put all this housing on,

so we might as well fill this with Monopoly housing, really.

We'll have to change our local badge.

Today, Rob's come to a local festival to galvanise support

in fighting the developers and his weapon of choice is the pen.

I'm gathering today signed letters.

Of objection. To tell them to...

..go away.

So if we can stop the first bit, we'll stop the rest

and that's what we want to do.

Somebody's got to do something. If you don't do anything,

these developers are just coming in, concrete our countryside.

At Stroud Council,

Rob hand-delivers his petition of 1,000 protest letters

to head of planning, Phil Skill.

-Hi, there, can I help?

-Yes, I've come to see Phil Skill, please.

-OK, not a problem. Can I get your name, please?

-It's Rob Griffiths.

OK, I'll let him know you're here.

I'm going to throw them at him. No, no, no.

I hope that he takes these on behalf of the local community, I hope.

And he does something with it.

-Afternoon.

-Hi, Phil, how are you?

-Fine, thank you.

Phil, this is on behalf of Rodborough Fields Preservation Group.

Lot of scanning, there.

It'll be on the website in the next couple of days.

-Thank you very much.

-Nice to meet you.

-Pleasure.

-Thank you.

-Bye-bye.

But the size of Rob's petition alone

is not enough to impress planner Phil.

I think what the public fail to grasp in the planning system

is it's the arguments being made that have the greatest weight.

1,000 people making the wrong argument carries no weight.

One person proposing the right argument

carries an awful lot of weight.

So it's about the issues and once you've got the right issue

then the number of people becomes a factor.

One person who thinks he has a strong argument

against this application is wildlife expert, Dr Colin Studholme

from the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust.

The trust has lodged an objection against the scheme

as the developer is proposing a radical solution

to the loss of this key wildlife site.

What they are actually proposing here is a new concept

called biodiversity offsetting.

What that means is they will find an alternative site

to try and recreate wildlife habitat to compensate for this loss.

There's no evidence that these translocations work

so we're objecting because of that reason.

This is a very important site

and it should not be targeted for development.

This has been here hundreds of years.

This site cannot be recreated.

In Cheshire, ex-navy pilot Paul Hanks

wants to start his dream business

giving hovercraft and off-road buggy experiences

on a greenbelt marshland opposite the town of Frodsham.

29 residents of a nearby mobile home park

have objected to the scheme,

as they're worried the hovercraft noise

would travel across the M56 and into their homes.

Planner Phil Davies is in charge of making a recommendation

on this application.

Yeah, I understand the residents of Frodsham have been quite concerned

with the possible noise that will come from the buggies

and the hovercrafts on the site.

However, since the application's been submitted,

a noise report assessment has been presented

and that has advised that the noise emissions from the hovercraft

would not carry over the M56 motorway

towards the residential properties in Frodsham.

So with that guidance, there's a recommendation now of approval.

But the planners won't have the final say.

The decision will be made by the planning committee.

Its youngest member,

24-year-old unemployed councillor Amy Mercer Bailey

is looking forward to visiting the site.

Fancy it?

Yeah, you see them on some of these really modern programmes.

I'm not entirely sure what they're looking for,

whether they're going to be small hovercrafts

or they're going to be some of the bigger things,

but I think it's quite exciting.

I go to the Isle of Man on a Seacat, yeah.

I went to France on one. It was terribly noisy.

You know, you kept spilling your gin and tonic on the way over, yeah.

Today, the councillors are visiting

the proposed site of Paul's dream business.

It's not always as cut and dried as you might imagine.

As ever, there are so many permutations and, as ever,

I try and see it from everyone's point of view.

First stop, the M56 bridge between Frodsham

and the greenbelt marshland.

Planner Claire Coombes is leading today's visit.

There's the hovercraft.

Usually, the councillors have to imagine

what an application will look like from two-dimensional plans.

Today, they can see and hear it for themselves.

Our point, which I've always maintained,

is that's just a wall of noise that our noise can't get through.

It's now just relying on the councillors' ears.

Can't hear it.

Next up, the proposed site.

These things are like trying to drive on jelly.

It is definitely something that's quite exciting.

Whether it's right for this area,

I think is something to be determined.

There's not many planning applications where you can actually

put the end result on the site before you actually get started,

so it was good for them to see it and get an idea,

a sense of what's going to be there

in real terms.

I think one or two of them might have even quite liked

to have jumped on, if I'd offered it.

If they get it passed, then maybe they can come down.

Paul has been trying to get his project off the ground

for nearly two years.

Will this attempt be successful?

In Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, father and son team Lee and Dean Williamson

want to improve the football pitches at their dilapidated club.

But the Highways Agency have objected

as their proposal requires around 50 heavy goods vehicles

accessing the site every day for a year.

Basically, they're concerned about two lorries

meeting at the junction of Theobalds Lane and the A10.

Having now had a few days to digest the objection,

dad Lee has come up with a solution -

GPS tracking.

So what we're doing is monitoring the movements of the lorries,

tracking them to ensure that we don't let a lorry out of the site

when there's another one approaching.

As long as we control lorry movements away from the site,

we'll never have two lorries meeting there.

The Highways Department have accepted Lee's idea

to track the vehicles

and have now recommended approval for the scheme,

so planner Rob Webster can write his own report.

The application has been recommended for approval

but we'll need to go to planning committee.

It's not had public objection but it is a very major application.

We are satisfied as officers, but when you start talking about,

potentially, tens of thousands of lorries,

there's still things, which councillors

like to cast a keen eye over,

so you might expect there might be a bit of a debate around that.

On site visits, it's against protocol for the applicant

to try and lobby the committee,

but with his £500,000 investment at stake,

Dean is taking no chances.

I'm not allowed to speak to the council when they come down,

but I might just give them a wave from the office,

so I thought I'd try and look relatively respectful.

Respectable?

You're going to have loads of good outtakes, aren't you?

Broxbourne's planning committee is made up of 13 elected councillors

from all walks of life.

A taxi driver...

..a former market stall holder

and a cleaner.

Oh, no!

The Highways Agency are happy with Lee's plan

to track the vehicle movements with a GPS system,

but the committee members still need to be convinced.

Planner Paul Cavill is leading the visit.

What's actually being put forward by the applicant

is a construction vehicle management plan

and that would be done from the site office.

Does this actually rely

on somebody watching the screen to see the traffic?

That is the intention?

What happens if we get a problem so that the two lorries would meet,

so we got lorries in here and they're waiting to go out,

we've got lorries coming in,

and they're coming in every ten minutes and something goes wrong?

It could start backing up somewhere up the A10,

so where do they actually need to go?

They're actually going to identify lay-bys

and they'll actually be asked to pull into the lay-by,

or the lorry would be held here.

The scepticism is in the human element

that comes into these sort of things.

While we were standing by the entrance, a coach came up the road,

and they have no control on looking at what they're seeing

that on their GPS monitoring.

It needs to be looked at a little more carefully, I think.

These councillors will meet in 48 hours to express their vote.

Developer Dean knows that his application

will hang in the balance until the final whistle blows.

We've had no objections from any residents,

in fact everyone's been in support.

So, I can't imagine why someone would vote against it.

I've been in planning committees where it's been recommended

for approval and the council's voted against it.

So, can't take anything for granted.

The whole dream could rest on one planning committee.

Back in Chester, the planning committee are gathering to debate

an application to build a three storey house on an old quarry site.

This difficult plot is in a conservation area

and the developer has already withdrawn one application

after the planners recommended it for refusal.

There have been six objections from local residents to the new scheme,

but this time Head Planner Fiona Edwards

is recommending approval.

I think sometimes when things are different it makes people

question whether it's the right thing to do

and it's going to bring a fairly significant element of change

into that part of the village, so sometimes people are a little bit

fearful of what they don't understand.

We don't think there are any sound planning reasons for refusing it

and therefore I'm hopeful that members will go with

the officer recommendation.

A passionate plea can be enough to sway the committee's vote,

but Barry Littler, the scheme's strongest objector, is unwell

and cannot attend the meeting.

Chairman of the Parish Council Andrew Palmer

is speaking in his place against the proposal.

The proposed structure has been described by residents as

"ugly, a saucepan, a grand design folly and a spaceship."

Which is totally out of character with the village

and the conservation status of the village.

It would have a detrimental effect on the appearance of the village.

And we would therefore ask the committee to refuse the application.

Thank you.

The applicant has decided not to attend

and as no-one is speaking in their place,

it's now down to the committee to debate.

I like this house.

I think it's a unique design

and, ultimately, I think it would actually enhance the village.

So, I'd like to propose approval of this planning application.

Well, I actually disagree with that.

I quite like the site as it is.

It looks quite wild, it's got some lovely trees on-site.

I think it would spoil the area. I shall be voting against it, anyway.

OK, thank you.

When you looked at all the houses round the area,

they were all different - '60s, '70s, '80s, modern houses.

So, nothing was in keeping with anything else.

So, to have a building like this, I find it very exciting.

I would certainly like to see it when it's finished.

And I will second permission.

We've moved and seconded for approval.

So, all those in favour of approval?

That's ten. All those against? One.

OK, members, that's carried for approval.

With only one vote against it, the scheme is approved.

It is about members being able to visualise something that's on a flat

piece of paper in two-dimensional form what that's actually

going to be like when it's built

and I think they've done a good job there tonight.

The next day, Barry discovers the fate of the house in the quarry.

'I like this house.'

Oh, do you?

He still doesn't know which way the councillors voted.

'That's ten. All those against? One.'

OK, members, that's carried for approval. Thank you.

That's great. I'm absolutely astounded.

Typical. Don't know about the law being an ass,

I think the council's an ass.

I really do.

In Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, developers Lee and Dean Williamson

want to treble the size of their football club grounds

to attract other local teams and double attendance.

Today is decision day for their planning application

and Dean is on his own.

Lee's, unfortunately, in hospital today.

He...sliced his hand open

yesterday morning quite severely.

But he's OK, which is the main the thing.

The fate of this planning application is the hands of

Broxbourne Council's planning committee,

which will meet in two hours.

If the plans don't get the go-ahead today,

it could be a red card for the whole project.

It is nerve racking to think that the year and a half we've spent

on this application, getting it right,

all comes down to probably 30-40 minute discussion by non-industry experts

and you get a little bit anxious just in case they say no.

Dean's girlfriend, Anna, will be joining him at the meeting.

Anna... I'm going to wear, like, a blue jacket.

So, do I go for a club tie or no tie?

-Erm...blue tie.

-The old club tie, the old logo. It's a vintage tie.

Is that better? Does that... give the impression of...

power?

Ready? Let's go.

Planner Rob Webster has made a recommendation to approve

the application.

But that still doesn't guarantee a win for the Williamsons.

I guess on the face of it, quite a straightforward application.

It's someone putting some earth and soil on a site,

but actually some of the issues it raises cos of the sheer

quantity of soil we're talking about are quite complex,

so could be in for a bumpy ride.

Might sail right through, you never know.

-Hello.

-Evening. We're here for the planning committee meeting.

With dad Lee in hospital,

Dean's younger brother, Glen, has come along to support him.

Whilst he's been practising his speech I've been doing me

victory dance. Give me a D, give me an E and an A-N-O.

So, yes, I've just been practising that all day.

There have been no local objections to the application, but Dean

still has a chance to convince the committee to approve the plans.

Chairman members, as I sit here tonight,

there's not one single objection to our application.

I think that such strong support is testament to the good design

of the proposals

and to the recognition of the important role that sport

plays in the health, wellbeing and social cohesion of the community.

Thank you for allowing me to speak and I trust that you will support

this very important application.

If the application is not successful it won't just be bad

news for the community -

developer Lee stands to lose his £500,000 investment.

Now, I'll throw it open to members to comment.

The one issue I would like to be reassured on...

is concerning the number of lorries.

11,000 lorry movements is a concern

and particularly in the residential area.

Now, we're talking about 22,000 journeys by heavy goods vehicles,

which they'll certainly be fully-laden

when they're entering the site.

I'm very concerned about the road surface.

The sheer number of heavy goods vehicles accessing the site

is clearly still an issue for the committee. But it's only half-time.

At last we have something there to give some pleasure to the people

around this area.

We can have FA-approved pitches where we could, in actual fact,

end up with a Cheshunt Academy.

I think it's going to be a fantastic development for all

the children of the borough,

and I'd like to move it for approval.

-They can do better than that.

-All those in favour?

Against?

That is carried.

The committee have agreed with the planners' recommendation

and it's a win for the Williamsons.

It's now down to Dean to relay the good news to his dad.

MAN ON PHONE: Deano.

Dad, how are you feeling?

I'm good, thanks, mate, yeah.

Yeah. Good. I've got some news.

-Yeah?

-We got through. We're in the final five.

HE LAUGHS

We got approval.

You got the approval? And Wolves have just won and all.

DAD LAUGHS

All right, Dad, well, rest up and I'll speak to you tonight.

-Cheers, Dad.

-Thanks, mate.

-Rest up.

-Cheers, bud. Bye.

-Onwards and upwards.

-As promised.

LAUGHTER

Conference football.

Back in Chester, another business dream

is in the hands of the planning committee.

Paul Hanks has invested £2,000 applying for planning permission

to give hovercraft and buggy rides on a greenbelt marshland

opposite the town of Frodsham.

I have no real preconceived ideas how it will go.

I don't begin to imagine

what the councillors are going to come up with,

but obviously they've listened to the report that the opponents have

put together and read through, hopefully, what I put together

as the business proposal for the planning application,

so hopefully they'll take it on its merits.

29 residents of the nearby mobile home park have objected,

including Jeffery Abnett.

I hope that the letter we have written with the points that

have been highlighted are going to be enough to swing it in favour.

Do you want one of them?

I've been told it could be on for a long time,

therefore we've been told to bring something with us.

That's what we're doing.

The planners have recommended approval for the scheme,

but will the committee agree?

The planning committee would see it

from a different point of view from an officer.

They would look at the impact upon their members of their communities.

If they think it's going to be a detriment to them,

they would recommend it for refusal.

The objectors have a chance to speak

in a bid to sway the committee in their favour.

They have enlisted local councillor Andrew Dawson

to make a case on their behalf.

Thank you, Madam Chairman.

We do have particularly vulnerable people living in the park homes.

These are caravans. These are homes with very thin walls.

Now, OK, they are living right next-door to the M56,

they are particularly vulnerable, in my view,

to noise and it is something that I think should weigh heavily

on your mind when you're considering this particular application.

I urge you to refuse it.

Surprisingly, Paul has declined the chance to respond to the objections.

It's now down to the committee to debate.

We actually stood on the motorway bridge,

which is a bit closer to the site than are the caravans.

At the time, a hovercraft was running across the field there.

I for one couldn't hear it.

The noise was drowned out by the noise of the motorway.

So I will be voting to approve this proposal.

The first signs are good for Paul.

But will the other councillors agree?

Like Councillor Black, when I went to the site,

I was concerned about noise.

Not simply the volume of the noise but the nature of the noise,

cos I'm very well aware that there are some noises

that are very much more irritating than others.

I was very surprised at how modest the noise really was.

I firmly believe the noise of the traffic on the motorway will

outweigh, certainly,

the noise of the vehicles that are going to be used on the site.

So I'm going to second for approval, please.

All those in favour?

It's a unanimous yes for Paul's dream business.

Yeah, pleased we can get started.

Yeah, it's a lot of work to go ahead now.

Yeah, it's good. I'm good.

We are annoyed. Yeah, we are very disappointed.

But...this is the way things go.

Now we've got to go back and tell the residents now that we've lost.

That's going to be hard on some of them,

but some of them couldn't care less.

In Stroud, an application to build 100 new homes on Rodborough Fields

has been met with strong opposition from locals

who want to preserve its history and wildlife.

By the time this development is finished,

this whole side of the valley, this golden valley, will be gone.

It will be gone for ever then. You won't be able to put it back.

But the planners have housing targets to meet.

Today at Stroud District Council, head of planning Phil Skill

and his team have come to a decision

as to what their recommendation on this scheme will be.

We have looked at the refusal reasons for the site

and we've come up with seven different refusal reasons.

The ecologist's advice is that we do have a very robust

case for the refusals that we've given.

Good.

'The case officer's recommendation was for refusal

'on seven ecological grounds.'

To be quite honest, I'm quite conflicted by the decision,

cos on one hand I'd got 100 houses close to the town centre -

a highly sustainable location, but on the other hand we've got

the ecology issues to also take on board.

So whilst I'm happy that we've made the right decision,

the correct decision, that still leaves me trying to find a

replacement for those hundred houses somewhere else in the district.

The news to turn down the application

has already reached the scheme's lead objector Rob Griffiths.

The proposal would adversely affect Rodborough Fields

Gloucestershire's key wildlife site

as Rodborough Fields is of county nature conservation value.

The proposal does not outweigh the damage to the

structure of a key wildlife site and its ecological functions.

The developer could appeal the decision

or put in a new and improved application in the future.

But for now Rob and his action group are celebrating at the local pub.

APPLAUSE

just to remind everybody really why we are really here.

We were really here to defend these fields, fight for these fields.

We feel very lucky we live in a special place like this.

So we really thank you for all your efforts you've put in.

OK, guys, thank you.

It's the end of my part-ay, and, yes, winners.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Next time, residents and councillors clash over a development.

Excuse me, not another word.

Why's that then? What are you going to do?

You can't explain everything till the morning.

A veteran has a plan to help heroes.

There are men and women in foxholes shivering from the cold,

if we can help, we must.

And will this derelict cottage ever become one family's dream home?

I have stood over here and done this with my hands as

if I'm washing the dishes, cos this is where our sink's going to be.