Episode 7 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's 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.

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, residents and councillors clash over a development.

-Excuse me, not another word.

-What are you going to do?

You can't explain everything until the morning.

A veteran has a plan to help heroes.

There are men and women in fox holes 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

because this is where our sink's going to be.

There are about 24 million households in the UK.

Studies say that a million more will need to be built

in the next eight years to keep up with our booming population.

In the South East, London's rocketing house prices

are putting enormous pressure on local authorities

to find land for new homes.

In Broxbourne, Hertfordshire,

major site development officer Andy MacDougall deals with

the borough's most controversial applications.

Definitely a fair weather planner.

I don't like going outside in the rain. It's never nice.

Faffing about with plans and things.

And the wind, wind's the other planner's nightmare.

Nice sunny conditions, and I'm all right.

On his desk is an application to develop land

at the edge of the town of Hoddesdon.

The plans have been greeted with stiff opposition.

As you can see, someone didn't particularly like that.

On the way back to the car, I'll pick that one up

and take it off the lamppost. Not doing anyone any good there.

High Leigh Garden Village is the biggest development in Broxbourne

for a decade, the fruit of a joint venture between

Lands Improvement Holdings and developer, Leach Homes.

Proposed here is a mixed use development

comprising up to 535 houses,

with a school in a central location, we have a hotel, a gym

and a restaurant as well as a local shop.

It is a big development. You can see the size of it.

That is, in effect, half of the site.

Down here on the other side of the subway,

we'll be visiting the other half of the site.

If the development goes ahead, nearly 100 acres of green belt land

will be lost to make way for the new scheme.

While green belt is very heavily protected,

in exceptional circumstances, housing can be allowed in a green belt.

Now, I think many residents see the green belt as, simply, a no-go area.

I'm expecting a large amount of letters from the residents

in that corner over there.

Clearly, they've got, at the moment unrestricted views

of open countryside.

Their views will be of a housing estate.

Clearly, they will have a view on that.

Ben, get here!

For Hoddesdon residents, Sharon and Jock Taylor,

the proposed building site holds special significance.

We used to have great fun over here

when we were youngsters, didn't we, when we first met each other?

She was a bit of a tiger girl, weren't you?

I was a young stag then, wasn't I?

And she was a young hind.

-Now I'm an old stag and she's an old hind now.

-Speak for yourself!

Ex-gamekeeper Jock and wife Sharon

are fighting the development, and it's not just their mating habitat

they're trying to defend.

If you look at the bank over there,

there's big badger earths over there. Out!

How can they bulldoze that up?

That's going to be bulldozed up. Where are them badgers going to go?

Straight across to the motorway. The other side of the bank is absolutely alive with badger earths.

Houses are more important than wildlife.

They're going to make millions out of them houses,

they're not going to make millions out of them.

That's the way society is today. Wildlife comes second.

This is their kingdom, leave it alone.

The removal of badger caves

has to be authorised by government agency, Natural England,

before any building can start.

But nature lovers, Jock and Sharon, have lodged a full objection

with the planners hoping that they will recommend an outright refusal

for the scheme.

But for residents of the converted farm buildings

on the other side of the field, there will be no such luxury.

We received a letter

from the landowners.

This particular letter was horrible,

telling us they have covenance against us

and therefore we are not allowed to object to anything

that's going to be built.

Pam and Daryk Armfield bought their current house ten years ago

when the barns were converted.

And with all 12 fellow residents of the barns,

they signed deeds with a clause that forbids them

from objecting to any future development.

They're trying to get all of us in these houses here

to back off and make no objection.

I think that's their intention.

They know there's an awful lot of adverse reaction

from these houses and from the group of properties around here.

With no response from the developer it's left to planner, Andy,

to put their side of the story.

Having previously been a planning consultant for the private sector,

these clauses aren't particularly uncommon.

While I can understand them being upset,

I think there's both sides to every story.

It's there very clearly on the deeds.

I think the residents would have been well aware of that situation

when they were buying the properties.

Andy now has eight weeks to come up with his recommendation.

Ever since this, large developers are on the same sort of level

as bankers for me.

We've just been silenced.

We're talking to you now, and all the time, I'm thinking,

I wonder if they'll have some clever legal guy

that's going to get round this and sue us?

-We've been hammered.

-Yeah.

Hundreds of years ago, as Britain's road network grew and developed,

so did too did thousands of roadside inns,

the ancestors of the modern pub.

There are now 45,000 pubs in Britain,

but their number has been declining steadily

and 26 are now closing every week.

So, the pub quiz for today. Where are we going?

Aha! We're going to a pub.

Stroud's head planner, Phil Skill, is driving to the village of Stonehouse

where it's the last call for 120-year-old Spa Inn.

Planners are among the first to arrive on the scene

when a pub closes.

We've got an application here for a conversion

of the public house into a residence.

Two more buildings on the car park.

Two pairs of semi-detached houses.

The current tenant is due to leave in two months.

The pub's owner, Wadworth Brewery,

is struggling to find a new landlord

and so decided to apply for housing.

I'm the town planner, it's my job to decide what happens.

Oh, is it?

-Do you want any ice?

-No, thanks.

The Spa was a country pub for most of its existence.

In the past 30 years, however,

an industrial estate has been built around it.

Since 2000, sales are down by 60%.

If there aren't enough sales, at some point

the owners are going to say, enough's enough.

From our conversations with the brewery, they have spent

a lot of time and effort trying to keep the pub alive and operational.

They've subsidised it to some extent, but you come to a point

where do you stop putting money into something

which is never going to go anywhere?

Or do you say, enough's enough and we need to move on?

It's a shame that planning people can't see beyond money things,

that you've got to have a community to make life worth living.

67-year-old objector Liz Kennedy

is one of the last remaining regulars at the Spa.

She's lived behind it with her husband Dave for 25 years.

Excuse the windows. I don't clean them very often.

You'll have a job seeing out through there, won't you?

It's such a shame.

The lorry drivers used to call there for meals in the evening

so there were people around there.

People off the trading estate came round at lunch time.

It was more alive then.

There we go.

Liz herself is a retired lorry driver.

When she's not at a motorbike rally, she's getting ready for one.

We all get together and put our tents up

and just have fun together.

A lot of talk goes on.

I'm a bit old-fashioned, I'm afraid.

I don't have anything to do with computers, Facebook, Twitter,

anything like that. I'd rather see people and talk to people.

That's one of the things we might loose

if things like village pubs go.

Although the brewery is struggling to find a tenant,

Liz and the pub regulars have asked them not to convert it into a house

and keep looking for a new landlord.

If the planners allow the pub to become a house,

it will be lost for ever.

I don't mind if the brewery wants to make a bit of money

and stick a couple of houses up in the car park,

but please leave the pub alone.

Normally, Wadworth Brewery would jump at the chance

of keeping the past alive.

They still deliver to their pubs using shire horses,

but having owned the 120-year-old Spa Inn since 1991,

they've decided to give up on it.

In the last ten years, we've spent in excess

of £350,000 on the Spa.

That includes £290,000 in 2006-2007, altering the house,

increasing the trading area and improving the kitchen

for it to become a place to go on a Friday, Saturday night

or Sunday lunch time, you would go to the Spa.

We tried, but sadly it's not worked.

The time has come to draw a line under it,

and we just need to move on.

At the end of his visit,

Phil decided to recommend approval for the brewery's application.

I think, just looking at the financials,

even if we don't grant a change of use on here, it will close.

What I've got to do is see what we can do about making sure

the land is put to a profitable use rather than becoming wasteland,

just boarded up like so many other pubs.

The car park's become an area for cars to do doughnuts in.

Is that the sort of area we want?

Or should the planning system be there to find an acceptable,

alternative use? I think it's the latter.

If I got sad at every pub that closed,

I'd be so dehydrated from tears.

This one closing may actually make one in Stonehouse survive

that wouldn't normally have done.

So one may die to save another.

But as local residents are objecting to the brewery's application,

this case will be determined by the elected members

of Stroud's planning committee.

They'll meet to consider the application in 48 hours.

There are 4.5 million veterans of the armed forces in the UK -

about 7% of the total population.

In the peaceful Cheshire countryside,

there are plans to build new facilities for discharged soldiers.

They're in the hands of planner Steve Holmes.

This is a proposal for 40 lodges

all arranged in a regimented fashion.

It does have the appearance of barracks in some respects.

Which would comprise a gym, IT suite and other facilities

which would help ex-servicemen and women reintegrate into civilian life.

LAST POST SOUNDS

A charity has started gathering the £3.25 million needed

to fund the development.

It's led by 51-year-old army veteran, Joe O'Connor.

They shall not grow old like we grow old.

As the sun goes down, we will remember them.

Joe spent 15 years in the military, serving in the Royal Engineers unit,

where he came very close to losing his life.

We were on night patrol in the Brecon Beacons

on a ridge, and it's gale force winds.

A gust of wind caught me and I hit the ground

with such an almighty bang.

I got this pain like I was being stabbed in the neck.

I was there for an hour and a half before the guys got to me.

Paralysed, and with his neck broken in two places,

Joe was discharged from the army and spent the next eight years in rehab.

As his recovery progressed he devised the idea of a privately run

veteran centre where discharged soldiers can recover physically

while spending time together on camp.

My friends, my family have supported me.

And I've got a purpose in life,

but there are guys who don't feel they have a purpose.

They don't... They may question why they live.

That's not right.

Planner Steven has come to visit the site with landscape specialist,

Tim Rogers, to decide if the introduction of 40 lodges

and a rehabilitation centre in open countryside

would be acceptable to the council.

It's important for visual impact to stand on different points around the site

and have a look at how it would be.

-Do you want to lead, Joe?

-Just duck down.

The field's existing residents will be re-housed

if the application is approved.

This is the time to make their representation to the planners.

Oh!

Don't know if it's worth going back there now

so that we're being eaten by horses while we talk!

Having seen the site, Steven's not convinced.

The key point here is going to be visual impact.

I think the problem at the moment, it's quite dense.

It's the building in the centre that had the biggest visual impact.

It is quite a big building.

Perhaps some people may say it's a monstrous building.

The density of the lodges is quite an issue as well.

The planners are worried about the scale of the project.

It's bad news for Joe.

If this went in now as it is, would it pass or fail?

It's going to struggle to get approval as it stands at the moment.

OK. So, now we have to work on what will.

Generally, our role is to look at what people have submitted

and try and aid them through the process.

There are some instances we're helping by saying,

you're not going to get planning permission for that.

It's back to the drawing board for Joe.

Stephen will be waiting to receive his revised plans.

In Broxbourne, Hertfordshire,

a local developer wants to build 535 houses on green belt land.

It's been a controversial application.

And the responsibility for making a recommendation

rests on the shoulders of planner Andy MacDougall.

He's been looking for a way to de-stress.

The planner is firmly at home today.

This is a kind of a 12 kilometre obstacle course.

I think if I can survive 12 kilometres in this sort of condition,

I can survive eight weeks on a highway application. Easy!

Come on!

I think if applicants and neighbours saw me doing this,

their main concern would be, why isn't he in the office

reading my letter of objection or reading my planning statement

rather than anything else, I imagine!

-Excellent. Congratulations.

-Thank you very much.

Elected members of Broxbourne planning committee

are also waiting for Andy's decision.

But due to the controversial nature of the application,

the council have taken the unusual step of bringing

the committee for a site visit before the recommendation is issued.

These councillors include a London taxi driver,

an ex-market stall holder and the owner of a cleaning company.

I'm betwixt and between because...

..we've got to build houses but when I look at these green fields,

I wonder if I should be advocating building on them?

If the development goes ahead, Hoddesdon residents,

Jock and Sharon Taylor, stand to lose the field

they've walked regularly for 30 years.

Everything you can see here at the moment is proposed for houses.

Letters of objections have been flocking to the planners

but Jock has decided to follow his up with a chat to the councillors.

Have a good look to see what you lot are going to ruin.

-Who says we're going to ruin anything?

-Putting a housing estate on there?

No-one said we're going to put housing there.

-What are you all here for then?

-Come to have a look.

-You going to look at the countryside?

-I love the countryside.

So do I, mate, so leave it alone.

If you think you're putting a housing estate on there,

you're going to have a big fight on your hands.

-Excuse me, not another word.

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

We understand your concerns, but there are a lot of other people

who need housing as well. It's hard facts.

I feel now we're boxed in like rabbits now.

You start putting houses all on the fields, where are we going to run?

Where can the rabbit run? Nowhere.

It's a real problem and it's something

that we have to wrestle with and come up with a solution.

-Thank you.

-Bye-bye.

-Thanks, bye.

I don't think there's anything they can do

to make me feel, yeah, great, we're going to have an housing estate.

If it does go ahead, we are seriously thinking about moving.

The 16 weeks planner, Andy, was given to come up

with a recommendation have passed.

His verdict is due today.

But there's a surprise.

I'm still, as yet, undecided.

This is potentially 523 houses on a green belt site.

In applications like this it's important we do have all the facts.

There's really very little point in rushing a decision like this.

Before he goes to the planning committee

with his recommendation, Andy wants to know how the scheme will affect

the highways, whether there will be enough funds to provide

healthcare facilities for the new residents,

and what the provisions will be for the new schooling.

I think it is important

that we're not having to be forced into making a decision prematurely.

I am chasing consultees on a regular basis, if not a daily basis.

So the sooner I can get all of the information I want

and feel necessary to make a recommendation,

is the sooner I can make the recommendation.

Andy's recommendation will be made later this year.

Members of the planning committee will then determine

the High Leigh application.

Meanwhile, the locals can keep enjoying uninterrupted views

of the countryside.

There's lots of bits

before they can even go to committee to say,

how are we going to resolve this?

The council have got an awful lot to think about.

It doesn't matter whether it takes three months, six months or two years,

the fight will always be there as long as the threat is there.

If they're threatening to dig up our green belt and countryside

to put concrete, the fight will always go on, won't it?

Absolutely.

The fate of High Leigh Garden Village hangs in the balance.

In Stonehouse, Gloucestershire,

the future of this pub will be decided in just 24 hours.

A brewery wants to turn it into a house

and build four more houses in the car park.

Deciding whether to allow the development will be the job

of the 12 members of Stroud's planning committee.

It may look like a jolly but that is far from the truth.

These councillors, including a farmer, an ex-maintenance man

at a nuclear power station, and a retired teacher

have come to visit the Spa Inn before they make their decision.

What attempt has been made to disprove the fact

that it's not a working pub?

The brewery haven't been charging rent for quite a few years.

But it's still working. That's the truth.

You've got somewhere in the order of 5,000 people.

This is literally the only immediate community facility.

Surely there's a community reason for this staying as a pub?

The economics of it is critical.

That's what you're going to have to weigh up.

These 12 members will meet again in 24 hours

to have the final say on this application.

Retired teacher, Liz Ashton, will be among them.

CAT MEOWS

SHE LAUGHS

Mummy needs to do some work.

Did you know that?

She was elected as a councillor in 2011 but had to fight

with the head planner to be allowed onto the committee.

Phil Skill was a little bit concerned at first

because he felt that I needed more experience at planning,

but I persuaded him that I have got a lot of experience of life,

if not planning.

Before retiring, Liz travelled the world,

teaching in numerous special needs schools.

These are food covers from Ethiopia.

The food in Ethiopia is absolutely beautiful.

The children used to fight with this one, sometimes!

Yes! It's impressive.

I don't know whether you could do somebody a mischief with it?

I hope not. I better sheath it up, hadn't I?

Liz had to fight to win her seat at planning committee.

Tonight she joins it to decide the future of the Spa Inn.

The planners recommended the pub should be turned into a house.

But Liz and her colleagues have the power to save it

when voting time comes.

First to speak is the brewery's manager, Lloyd Stephens.

Since 2004, 2005, we have seen a steady decline in sales.

We have struggled to make a sensible or realistic profit.

The premises have little or no future as a licensed trade outlet.

We're sorry that a small number of people will not have a pub

on their doorstep, but unfortunately the Spa Inn cannot continue as is.

Stonehouse resident, John Lavine, is speaking next

on behalf of the pub's regulars.

I'd like to appeal to members and officers to reject the application

for the sake of my marriage, as much as anything else.

I'm sure there are others who need a refuge from Holby City

and Downtown Abbey, and some, I'm sure, would argue,

European football.

But I think with the right management,

the Spa can be a success.

Now it's down to the councillors to decide

whether to save the pub or allow it to become a house.

I speak as a teetotaller, so I suppose I should declare an interest.

It does seem to me

that there is a need for people to get together.

So I'm not going to vote for the proposal.

I know there are sentimental reasons for keeping these things,

but I think the applicant have tried everything and it hasn't worked.

We should be doing everything we can to retain these facilities

and not be too eager to sell them off at the first application.

That's why I shan't be supporting this motion. Thank you.

With Liz proposing to go against the planners recommendation

and save the pub, the councillors go to the vote.

All those in favour, please show.

One, two, three, four.

All those against, please show.

With four votes in favour and four against, it's a stalemate.

May I suggest, council, the item be deferred today

for further information on marketing.

That will give the opportunity for a community to consider

whether or not they wish to take on the asset

and find the wherewithals to support that.

Head planner, Phil suggests, the decision is delayed

until the next meeting, hoping that a new landlord would come

forward before the pub closes for good.

The one month delay could also provide the objectors

with a chance to take it over.

I would like to go with what you are suggesting.

What you said!

For now, it's a victory for the pub's regulars.

The other pubs in Stonehouse still do business.

I'm sure that the Spa Inn could compete.

We haven't got together really, but we will the next time.

We've got another go, haven't we?

This will give people the opportunity to get together and think about

whether they want it badly enough to put in the effort that is required.

If they don't, well...

That's it, isn't it?

It's very frustrating. It is a time delay.

From our point of view, the Spa Inn does not have a future.

The UK's housing stock is amongst the oldest in Europe.

Nearly a quarter of all houses were built before the World War I.

In Cheshire, after buying a 120-year-old cottage,

a young couple is in the middle of a stressful renovation project.

-She's a beacon of calmness.

-Don't!

Eight months ago, Jim and Ceri Rothwell

bought a cottage in the village of Oakmere

with the intention of making it their home.

For Ceri, it was a dream come true.

We'd always had a mind that we would like to do something like this

because my other half is quite handy.

It's everything that we ever wanted.

A detached property, a lot of land,

outbuildings and a great big morning room, kitchen area,

which again, we've got.

Ceri and Jim's only desired alteration was a small extension

for which they obtained planning permission.

Then they started the renovation work.

We wanted to raise the ceilings but to maintain as much as we could

of the original character of the property.

But Ceri's dreams were soon shattered.

What actually happened, when they took the slates off the roof,

a massive crack formed down the side of the wall here.

This chimney fell. Part of the gable end fell as well.

So the actual mortar that was between the stand stone was like chalk.

It was so crumbly. You could easily have put your finger in it.

It was obviously very old

and had not been cared for for quite some time.

The weather had gotten to it and had caused it to perish.

Tell Mummy, where is our house? It's outside, isn't it?

Since the old cottage fell down, the Rothwells have been living

in an on site caravan with their children aged four and one.

All of this side and internally was the existing cottage,

but really it was this bit that I had my heart set on retaining.

But sadly, that was the bit that was unsafe.

It ended up coming down.

We have been left with this U-shaped piece of original cottage.

With just a third of the old building left standing,

Ceri and her husband, Jim, patiently set about rebuilding what fell down,

convinced that the work would be covered by the planning permission.

I'm a practical bloke. I'm an engineer by trade.

It's an extension because I kept some of the existing

and I've gone to great lengths to keep some of the existing.

But in Cheshire West and Chester's planning department,

someone's not so sure.

In order for it to be classed as an extension,

there really has to be a house there to extend.

I don't think you could call three remaining walls a house, really.

You'd find it very difficult to live in that.

For planning development manager Nial Casselden,

the rebuilding works aren't permitted in this case.

There's a lot of case law and appeal decisions that go back many years,

debating about what is and isn't a replacement house.

But in our view, having seen the plans,

I think we're pretty confident that this really has to be considered

as a new house that he's building.

But having already spent £100,000 on the build,

and keen to get out of their caravan,

Ceri and Jim have decided to press on.

It would be nice if we had planning permission though.

-You're so irresponsible.

-I'm not irresponsible. It's fine. No, it's great.

It's terribly irresponsible.

Where we are today

is that we haven't got any plans permitted, as such,

and we are pressing forward at our own risk.

Which is scary!

-You do seem fairly relaxed.

-It's all the Valium!

Where developers have ploughed on

and started doing works without getting planning permission,

there is always a big risk for them.

For example, if the roof is too high,

they might have to tear the roof off and start again.

With the roof just about to go up,

Nial has come to visit the Rothwells to tell them that rebuilding works

aren't covered by the permission to extend.

What we want to be certain of is that when we do grant permission we grant the right permission,

so that it corresponds with the actual development taking place.

That's as much in your interests as it is in ours, really.

To me, it's semantics.

I would look at the fact that we have an existing part of the building

and I would say that if we have any part of the building,

whether it be just a floor or some walls, then technically, it can be argued,

if you paid a lawyer enough, that it was an extension.

I do feel for them because they are living in a caravan

and probably during the winter it's going to be cold and horrible.

They just want to get their house finished and get into it.

But right now, what you see in front of you is unlawful.

It doesn't have planning permission.

Until you've got that piece of paper in your hand

that says "planning permission", there's always a risk.

The only option for Ceri and Jim is to submit a new planning application

for the rebuilding works and hope that it will satisfy the planners.

If it doesn't, they face spending the winter in their caravan.

Only ten miles away in Tarporley,

the planners refuse Joe O'Connor's first proposal to build 40 cabins

and a rehabilitation centre for army veterans

in a field behind his house.

Joe has submitted a new proposal,

cutting down the scheme to 23 log cabins and a reduced rehab centre

with an eco-friendly green roof.

Planner Steven Holmes has to decide whether he's finally done enough

for a recommendation to approve.

Our input has been taken on board at virtually every turn.

The scheme is a pretty good one

and one that we feel, as officers, happy to support.

Joe's scheme has the support of the planners,

but there is an army of councillors who will have the final word on his application

currently charging towards the proposed building site.

If they can find it.

We all live around here and we don't know where it is.

Isn't it on that road?

We're not going the right way.

We're going to have fun turning... Is it a left turn here?

They don't get many people turning left here.

I've never seen anyone turning left here. This is a first.

You have now, David!

We're the first!

Right, then, this way. We will have to cross the road.

I don't think that there is a pavement.

Planning development manager Nial Casselden is tour guide for the day.

These committee members, including a rock salt producer,

a retired police officer and a farmer, would have the power

to approve or reject the construction of lodges on Joe's land.

It would be all of this rectangular field.

Up to that hedgerow there.

But that is as far as planning can go

They can't determine who will be using them in the future.

Joe has requested permission for a generic campsite.

There is no guarantee it will always remain a veteran centre.

You have to remember, even if this was granted permission,

it could end up with an entirely different operator.

It's not necessarily going to be the applicant.

Would we have a holiday camp here?

And he may say "Yes", I don't know.

They have obviously given it a lot of consideration and discussed it.

And taken into account the environment.

So tomorrow is the big day, really.

The councillors will meet in 24 hours

to have the final say on this application.

Meanwhile, eight local residents have objected to the construction of the veterans' centre,

fearing it may well become a commercial campsite.

Eveleigh Moore Dutton is the local ward councillor

and also a member of the planning committee.

We don't grant planning applications to a person

or to an organisation, you grant it for a site.

So sometimes you have to be completely impartial and say,

what, for the long-term,

is the best for this area and for the wider community?

It is a pretty stark dilemma in this case.

When voting time comes, Eveleigh will have

to balance the feelings of the community with her own.

At the moment I have my daughter, who is in the Royal Artillery,

and she has done three operational tours now.

And my son is in the Royal Engineers.

In September, he will be going to help with the withdrawal from Iraq.

He will be one of the first of those to do nine months.

I have huge sympathy for anyone who has been in the forces.

They all go through horrible things,

even those who come back sound in mind and body.

And a lot don't. So whatever we can do to help those, we should.

But we also have our local communities at home we have to care for.

In Stonehouse, Gloucestershire,

another community is up in arms trying to save their local pub.

Plans to turn the Spa Inn into a house have been put on hold

for a month to give its regulars an opportunity to take it over.

# We're walking down the alleyway, the alleyway, the alleyway

# Walking down the alleyway

# Nah, nah, nah. #

Two more regulars of the Spa Inn have joined the campaign to save their pub.

Wendy Keene and Esther Davey.

This is the next step.

We are putting car stickers on.

Initially, I said 'Save The Spa Inn', but it didn't have the right ring.

So we thought 'Save Our Spa - SOS'. We need help.

It's about the whole community and what we see as our local pub.

-Isn't it?

-Yep.

Wendy and Esther have also started a petition

against the closure of the Spa Inn,

which they hope will help save their 120-year-old pub.

They were using it as a spa house before they started selling beer.

The wells are still there.

-And it was for medicinal purposes, wasn't it?

-Yes.

But Royalty chose to patronise Cheltenham instead, which is why there's Cheltenham Spa.

If the king had not gone to Cheltenham it would have been Stonehouse Spa.

The first landlord was Edward Izzor, from 1890...

No, no, no!

From... Are you still filming?

-Yes.

-She will edit it.

From 1891, it was from Edward Izzor, and he ran it until 1903.

-What happened after that?

-He fell down the well!

No, sorry!

We have become great historians over the last couple of weeks!

And these campaigners have one more reason to be merry.

Having heard about their protest, brewery boss Lloyd Stevens

has decided to facilitate the community bid for the pub

by offering it to them rent free for a year.

We have offered the opportunity to take on the Spa on a 12 month rent free basis,

under the terms of our standard tenancy agreement.

Their involvement would be to purchase the fixtures and fittings and the stock.

And at the end of 12 months, we're quite happy to sit down and review the situation with them.

The community has the chance to run the Spa Inn rent free,

but accepting Lloyd's offer will still cost them money.

Normally, our tenants require and pay what is termed as initial in-going.

In terms of how much somebody would need to go into the Spa Inn,

we are probably talking about £23,000.

We can't afford to put money into it.

Nobody in Stonehouse has that sort of money.

We believe that the town council is against the planning permission.

They have objected.

Without enough funds of their own,

the locals have arranged a meeting with Stonehouse Town Council,

hoping to get financial help.

Some of us have been exceptionally busy and got a petition.

How many signatures are we up to now?

Just over 800.

Over 800 signatures now. All local people who know the Spa Inn

and who want to see it remain open as a pub.

The locals gathered signatures from a tenth of the population

of Stonehouse, but to save the pub, they now need money.

We want to get a good outcome for you. We truly do.

But what I cannot do as the chair of this council

is to commit public money to support a private enterprise.

There are a lot of hard working activists desperately trying to save it

but what you need is somebody with deep pockets

and a big community heart.

The problem is, we are struggling to find that person to come forward.

The Town Council is unable to help.

Time to look for another solution.

We can all chip in £20, but I don't think it will get us far.

-Shall we reconvene?

-Yes, reconvene to the pub.

The objectors are going for a drink, just not at the Spa Inn.

If they want it reopened, they have just 20 days left to find £23,000.

150 miles to the north, in Chester,

the planning committee have assembled to decide whether to allow

the construction of a rehabilitation centre

for army veterans in the village of Tarporley.

Applicant Joe O'Connor has brought his family along for moral support.

You look very relaxed, Joe.

Never let the enemy see you're frightened.

This is a full planning application for the erection

of 23 wooden accommodation chalets, a central amenity building

and two smaller structures which would be by the site entrance.

Joe's scheme has the backing of the planners.

Now, he has to persuade the councillors to let him build it.

Whatever your political opinions, you cannot failed to be moved by the heroism of our British military.

While we debate the rights and wrongs of war, there are men and women in foxholes shivering from the cold,

uncertain if they will live.

Of course, some don't. But for those that do, the hell is only just beginning.

And if we can help, we must.

Sanctuary of the Veterans will help replace their negative feelings

with a positive attitude and a new optimism for life.

Henry Ford said, "If you think you can or you think you can't, either way you're right."

Let's show our injured veterans that they can.

That journey starts right here, right now. Thank you.

Before the councillors debate the plans,

parish council leader Cora Cowop

speaks on behalf of the eight objectors.

Whilst the intended use of the site would seem charitable and well meaning,

our understanding is that no supporting evidence has been provided

to demonstrate the need or to show that this is an appropriate location.

Once approved, the lodges could be legally used

to accommodate any member of the public, not just veterans.

Deciding whether or not to approve Joe's plans is also a matter of trust.

All we would be giving planning permission for would be for holiday cottages

and the thing could be sold on to anybody

and it may not be occupied by servicemen in the future.

Eveleigh Moore Dutton is the ward member for Tarporley.

Two of her children are in the army.

Is there any means by which we can ensure that any permission that is given,

should it be given, will be used by veterans in perpetuity?

The simple answer is no.

This is being considered essentially as a campsite.

Who occupies it is not a matter for consideration.

It is whether or not a proposal in this location is acceptable.

In planning, the final user of this development is not a material consideration.

All of those in favour of approval, please show.

Only five of the committee members have voted to support the plans.

All of those against.

Abstentions?

It is a dead heat.

The deciding vote falls to the chair of the planning committee.

As I have the casting vote, and I vote to approve it,

the application is approved.

The stalemate is broken.

The veteran village can be built.

I really wanted to jump up and shout,

"Listen, I don't want to turn it into holiday homes, This is not about capital gain."

This is not about capitalism, or about making money.

This is about changing lives.

I voted against it. Reluctantly.

And there is a bit of me that is almost relieved it has gone through.

All I can say is that for the future I wish them the best

and hope it does get used for armed services.

What a battle that was. That was fantastic.

That will go down with the greats.

The Battle of Britain. The Falklands.

Sanctuary for Veterans. It is up there. It is up there with them.

Yeah. Brilliant.

Down the road in Oakmere,

33-year-old Ceri Rothwell and her husband, Jim,

wanted to extend their 120-year-old cottage.

But when two thirds of the building fell down,

they started to rebuild without the correct planning permission.

We are going to have an open hallway

and my utility room in here with my washer and drier and fridge, et cetera.

Play room, kitchen, living room.

This for us is everything we ever wanted from a house.

A great big kitchen.

But all their work is under threat.

For the planners, the rebuilding was not covered by the planning permission to extend.

Ceri and Jim have submitted a new application.

If the planners do not accept it, they will have to stop work

and carry on living in their on-site caravan.

We have a 16-month-old daughter that's been on antibiotics for a week.

They don't give out antibiotics to young babies lightly.

That is because we are living in a tin box.

It's one millimetre of aluminium and an inch of polystyrene.

It is not suitable for living in at this time of year.

Every delay is a real problem. It has a real impact.

Ceri and Jim's new application

is in the hands of planning development manager Nial Casselden.

We have had the amended plans in. We have carried out a new round of consultation.

We have had the information we need. We have given it a full assessment.

We've been out on site. Taken a look at it in the flesh. We are happy with it.

It is not causing problems. We think this is a good scheme.

It will not cause problems for anyone, so, yeah, absolutely.

We are definitely going to grant permission.

For Ceri, moving into her dream cottage can now become a reality.

I have stood over here quite a few times when we've been in.

I've been at the window and done this with my hands as if I'm washing the dishes

because this is where our sink's going to be.

You are stood on my breakfast bar at the moment!

Knowing that the planners are going to give us permission

is a huge weight off our minds.

It means we can plough forwards with everything we wanted to plough

forwards with before, but safe in the knowledge it can't be contested.

In Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, five weeks have passed

since the last planning committee meeting,

but local campaigners have not found the money to take over the pub.

And it is not just the objectors who have run out of time.

The planning committee couldn't schedule a new meeting, so the brewery lodged an appeal.

We get eight weeks to determine the application.

If we don't then the applicant, the brewery in this case,

has the legal right to take it to the inspectorate and say, you have a go.

It's a bit of a game like pass the parcel,

where you only get eight weeks before the person in charge of the game

can say "no", hand it on to the next person, and they can have a go at it.

The brewery's decision to involve the planning inspector

has cut out head planner Phil Skill entirely.

Follow the yellow brick road. Follow the yellow brick road.

But Phil is about to get a visit

by the last three remaining Spa Inn regulars.

Phil Skill. What a stupid name!

We have come here this afternoon to meet Mr Phil Kelly...

No. Phil Skill.

In one final bid to save their pub, objectors Wendy, Liz and Esther

have come to hand over their petition,

that contains over 800 signatures.

-Hello, I'm Phil Skill.

-Esther Davey. Nice to meet you.

This is on behalf of everybody in Stonehouse community.

I hope it helps because these people

genuinely do want to save the Spa Inn.

I will make sure that this is forwarded to the inspector directly.

-Excellent. Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

This is the objectors' last chance to make their voice heard.

The inspector will visit the Spa Inn in the couple of days,

but any lobbying will be strictly forbidden.

It is a one-person site visit.

Not a time for debate

and for talking about the issues.

They can say, "Hello, would you like a cup of tea?"

But you don't speak to the inspector.

-Are you the inspector?

-Yes.

-Excuse me, am I allowed to tag on if I don't say anything?

-Yes.

I won't say anything.

I've lived there for over 25 years, so I've seen all sorts happening.

-I think we have seen all we need to see.

-Thank you very much.

-Goodbye.

-Is that it?

-Thank you very much.

The inspector's visit lasts ten minutes.

Now, he will have to make a decision.

It was so quick.

He was saying, "This is that, this is that, this is that." Done deed.

The inspector has eight weeks to come up with his verdict,

which is final and can only be challenged in a court of law.

But only two weeks later...

Oh, gosh, what a wad.

Well, he made up his mind very quickly.

He was not there more than...

Well, ten minutes at the most, I think.

What a shame they couldn't have put a first-class stamp on it.

I would have known sooner instead of reading it in the paper!

There it is in black and white.

-Unfortunately, we have lost our fight to save the Spa Inn.

-Gutted.

And I know I will speak for all of the regulars

and the loyal customers that went to the Spa Inn.

I can speak for all of them, they are all gutted.

It is part of Stonehouse's heritage that will disappear.

The inspector's decision means that the brewery can convert

the Spa Inn into a house and build four more houses in the car park.

The council believed that there was still life in the pub.

So, on one hand the council is disappointed,

but it wasn't something that we weren't really expecting.

Objector Liz has not just lost her local pub.

She is also about to lose the view out of her bedroom window.

I wish somebody could have bought it that would have made a go of it.

Just like The Badger at Eastington,

which was run down and is now thriving.

Well, I hate to say it but I would laugh my head off

if the bulldozer went in and fell into a sinkhole!

You can't say that!

Next time, we revisit some of last year's

most controversial planning decisions.

What happened when planning permission was refused for this Cheltenham resident?

Did the lord of the manor secure the future of his ancestral home?

And what was the fate of these green fields in Tarporley?