Episode 3 The Planners

Britain is a green and pleasant land,

but for how long?

We're now getting to a situation where any site's worth putting a planning application in for.

After the biggest shake-up of the planning system in 40 years,

the race is on to get Britain building.

If I have a house here,

I'm thinking about building a sort of Berlin Wall, it's got to be at least six feet high.

So constructors are making plans...

Whoever designed that needs to be shot.

..objectors are making noises.

THEY MURMUR

I've had enough of what we've got in this town for councillors

-and the load of

-BLEEP

-they're putting up.

And neighbours are going to war.

We always won our battles as a family

and we'll win this one.

In the firing line, shaping the country of the future,

are Britain's planners.

-But nothing happens in the hall, yeah?

-No...

-No, yes, no.

Thanks for letting us visit and we'll see you on Thursday.

SHE SOBS

Another British planning cock-up, really.

Ooh!

The government wants building and construction

to kick-start the economy.

But where should we build?

This is the dilemma facing planning officers up and down the country.

The Cheshire village of Tattenhall

is facing an unprecedented number of planning applications

to build housing estates on its green fields.

This village at the moment is under siege,

it doesn't make logical sense,

for a village that has taken 100 years to build 60 houses,

they are now going to build 500 houses in one year.

National house-building firms are targeting the village's green fields.

But two local developers think they have a better solution -

a disused brownfield site.

Oh, big piece of chicken for you.

No, no, no!

-Are you a vegetarian?

-No!

The land belongs to Robin and Amanda Blackham,

small-scale developers that specialise

in re-using old buildings and materials.

-That's how this house used to look.

-In its heyday. 1930...

The project they're most proud of

is their six-bedroom Cheshire farmhouse,

home to their children - Tallulah, Wilbur and Enza.

That's my mum's bedroom.

They restored it over 15 years

and decorated it with Amanda's artwork.

I love houses, Robin loves houses, all my art is houses.

I love houses, yeah, it's just something we are into.

-We've actually had a lot of fun with it.

-Yeah, a lot of fun in this house.

By the time we found it, it had been stripped of everything.

There wasn't any running water or electric in here.

For the first 12 months,

we lived in one room, didn't we?

And I'd shower in the garden

spraying a hose pipe at me.

It was quite entertaining

cos the A41 would go past and we would see Robin being hosed down.

THEY LAUGH

It's been blood sweat and tears and a lot of love in it.

Because all three children, you know, it's very much our home.

Robin and Amanda run a reclamation yard a mile from Tattenhall village.

Five years ago, they bought this two-acre site

across the road from their yard for £932,000

and planned to renovate the disused country pub

and build 31 new houses.

We are not millionaire developers.

This obviously is the largest development we have ever done,

we have only ever done a few sites with one and two houses on before.

We have basically got a scheme,

which is using the entire brownfield site here.

And we are currently looking at 31 houses on the plot,

two, three and for and five-bedroom houses, so a mixture.

We've got an existing pub that would be completely restored,

the idea is to develop a shop and an outreach post office.

This will be the village green,

and the housing will wrap around and comes down through here.

The Blackhams have applied for planning permission

on their brownfield site three times before,

but were turned down on the grounds the site wasn't sustainable.

It's over a mile from the village,

down a dangerous road with no footpath.

With the big developers moving into the village,

the Blackhams' proposals could be overshadowed.

Our concern is that if they do get the green field,

because they have got the power, big lawyers, big bank balances...

So they've got a lot of wedge behind them,

then the housing saturation will be done in this area.

This will leave the brownfield site in more of decay and not used.

With thousands tied up in the land,

the Blackhams have to get their fourth application through.

This has taken five years to get it to this point.

If it doesn't happen this time, we've pretty well lost everything, haven't we?

We couldn't carry on with the business. Everything goes. It's the end of the line.

Rain, hail, sleet, snow, flood,

pestilence, hurricanes, plague of frogs.

You name it we have been there.

Fiona Edwards, head planner at Cheshire West and Chester Council

is considering the Blackhams' latest plans.

Her team has always recommended the site be developed in the past,

only for it to be thrown out on appeal.

If this was bang in the middle of the village, in pure planning policy terms,

it would have every green light above it.

But the planning inspector didn't consider this was a sustainable site

because it is about a mile away from Tattenhall.

It was too far away from facilities.

People wouldn't walk to Tattenhall to use the shops. They would use the car.

The Blackhams could make nearly a million if the scheme goes ahead.

If it doesn't, they may need to sell their home.

These guys know, because we're always going to planning meetings,

Another babysitter - Mummy and Daddy are going to another planning meeting.

It's a stress that nobody needs in their lives for more than six months let alone five years.

We want to get this planning over with and have a nice life.

No second chance now.

We have to take that through planning on that site because otherwise it's worthless.

We have to do it to keep the house and keep everything else working.

We've got to do it. We have no choice.

The planners can only recommend whether the housing developments

in Tattenhall should be approved or rejected.

The three greenfield proposals and Blackhams' brownfield site

will be decided by the planning committee.

And there is a powerful objector to the schemes - Mike Jones, the Tattenhall ward councillor

and leader of West Cheshire and Chester Council.

All the developers think that they could make a bit of money by doing a lot of development in Tattenhall,

but that very development would ruin what is a very vibrant and nice place to live.

It's going to be a 70% increase if all these houses were built and I think that is fundamentally wrong

in a small community like Tattenhall.

When it comes to buildings, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Planners have to encourage good design,

but design is more important to some than to others.

It's a big extension, isn't it?

Yes, it's an extremely substantial extension.

In Rochdale, planners Rebecca Coley and Peter Rawlinson

are considering plans to extend an Islamic Community Centre on the site of an old pub.

It looks to me as though no imagination or thought

for the wider environment in this scheme whatsoever.

Absolutely none.

Do the cheapest, not necessarily the most cheerful.

It's certainly not of the quality that I would want to see in Rochdale.

Rebecca needs to decide if the proposed extension will be in keeping with its surroundings.

It will start here, off this corner, all the way down...

..to here, somewhere in the bushes.

It is also proposed to be built in brick rather than the render

that the rest of the building is in, which is a bit of a contrast.

On the far side, facing into the industrial estate, there's no windows proposed.

It is literally a 32 metre long, six meter high blank brick wall.

That's it. Nothing else.

This is a poor scheme which has simply looked at the size of the site and put a building on it.

There are 17 mosques in Rochdale,

but this building is the only one serving the small

community of Shia Muslims who live in the town.

We are only a subsection of the Muslim community.

We follow the teachings of the family of Mohammed, Peace Be Upon Him.

Twelve years ago, the disused pub was given a new lease of life

when the Shia community bought the building and the Mustafa Islamic Centre opened.

That's a good question. It's a very good question.

Raza Hussain teaches at the Sunday school.

Why would Allah ask him to do something that was so difficult?

They are making cards over here and posters there, discussing philosophical ideas

and we are still sitting on floors like we did when I was a kid.

We don't have enough room for chairs.

These areas act as everything for us, classrooms, function rooms, lecture halls.

We use all of the same space for all of that.

Syed Shah and Zulfiqar Shah manage the centre

and have been planning the extension for two-and-half years.

We desperately need a better place.

Especially for the ladies because they are using upstairs.

They are struggling, especially disabled. We have to carry them up stairs.

It's got a lift for the disabled. It's got all the things that we need,

This is the future for our community's teenagers.

But the design of the building isn't the only issue for Rebecca and the planners.

It is a very busy area, industrial area, served by large lorries and wagons.

Planning policy requires that a new building like this one

has one car parking space for every five square meters of floor space.

This development should have 115 car parking spaces for the proposed amount of floor space.

They are only proposing three.

We think the consequences of that is that people would park either side of this street

and you wouldn't be able to get a HGV down.

My biggest frustration with it is that we put an alternative scheme to them.

And they are not willing to negotiate and not willing to listen.

Rebecca's team asked the community to change their plans

and build a smaller centre with more parking.

But they refused.

These issues with the road safety, the HGVs, traffic, parking...

we use our centre predominantly in the evenings and on a weekend as well.

So, when parking is required, there's no HGVs going around,

this place is dead, this area is quiet.

With no compromise being found,

Rochdale's planners are going to try to stop the development going ahead.

We are recommending this application for refusal.

As planners, we should always try to improve the environment - it's a fundamental of being a planner.

You don't say, "Oh, it's a bit scruffy so it doesn't matter."

It does matter.

We really need it.

If we can't get the permission it is a real disaster for us.

Britain's planners deal with almost half a million applications every year.

But not everyone gets permission before they build.

In Gloucestershire, planner Phil Skill is dealing with a homeowner who has built a new shed

and now needs retrospective permission to keep it.

What we have got here is an application for a big, steel shed,

sort of industrial scale and size and materials.

Unfortunately for them, there is a road that goes around the back.

If you've got a road at the front and at the back, you've got two fronts, if you like.

So, they could not benefit from permitted development rights.

Building an extension, garage, or shed on land next to a road

is not allowed unless its got planning permission.

They said, fair enough, gov. Hands up. We'll put an application in.

We got an application and here we are adjudicating on it.

The applicant in question, is truck mechanic Ian Ruther.

For Ian, large vehicles are a way of life.

Collection of small toys, small tractor I have got there. Probably my most useful bit of kit.

I mow the grass with it. It's versatile and useful.

Ian has motorbikes, an industrial scale trailer

and an articulated lorry that he's converting into a campervan.

But his pride and joy is his Unimog.

It's a vintage German-built off roader

and cost £15,000.

First sat in one of these in 1980, at the Smithfield show in London.

Wanted one ever since, saved up, bought one now.

Spent six months restoring this, weekends and evenings,

and fiddle with it to my heart's content.

Classed as a classic now, a collector's piece.

It's a toy really. A boyhood fantasy I think, never grew up.

Supporting Ian in his love for all things big

is his wife of 21 years, Sarah.

I see him occasionally! I don't mind. I know where he is.

He's happy. That's all that matters. He likes playing with big toys.

Regular jacks don't get you anywhere.

We bought this house because it had all the land with it.

Where we were before, he was never able to do that.

We don't feel we've actually done anything wrong. He's put up a shed

and basically that is all it is. He's put up a shed.

He's now been told that he can't have his shed.

But this isn't the first time

Ian's had trouble with his home improvements.

Neighbours have reported him to planners on ten separate occasions.

When I moved here first, there was a stone wall,

where you'll see this wooden fence.

I applied to the council to remove the wall and put a fence up.

They gave me written permission.

Three of the complaints that came in now, that was 11 years ago,

say, "He took a wall out he shouldn't have taken out."

Now the neighbours are suspicious about Ian's trucks

and the new building to house them.

They see me working in here most weekends.

They see things coming in and out, they see trailers.

They see my Unimog going in and out.

To them, I'm running a business

because people don't understand what you do.

Instead of asking a question and coming to see you.

That's probably why my direct neighbours don't complain

because they know me and understand what I do.

But some neighbours have contacted the council

to formally object to Ian's shed.

They're worried this is more than a hobby

and Ian is running a repair business from his house.

Ian, who has applied for it, is saying it's for domestic use.

I don't think anyone believes that.

There must be rules that say you can't develop commercial operations.

-We want them implemented in this case.

-If that is the case.

You're not allowed to run commercial operations from domestic premises,

and he is.

He's not running a business. It's a shame really.

It just leaves a really nasty aftertaste in the mouth.

You just hope that the process represents what everybody thinks

and that's what you pay your rates and your taxes for,

for the law to be upheld.

If we all started carrying on like him,

all of our lives would be blighted by people who have no real sort

of empathy with anyone else. That's the way I look at it.

Any complaint is totally unfounded,

It's not encroaching on anybody else's land,

it's not affecting anybody's light.

People who are half a mile away who are unhappy with it,

I really think they need to watch a bit more daytime TV.

If the planners decide Ian is running a business,

then the shed will have to come down.

In this case, what we've got

is somebody with large pieces of machinery in their back garden.

I suppose from his profession, it could be seen

that he might be doing it on a commercial basis.

We're investigating that at the moment.

If they were for commercial gain, we would be taking enforcement action.

In Tattenhall in Cheshire, Robin and Amanda Blackham

want to build 31 houses on their brownfield site.

Their chief opponent is council leader Mike Jones.

He's a full-time councillor and has campaigned

against their previous applications

because the site is too far from the village.

The real objection to it was sticking 40 houses

in the middle of nowhere with no facilities for the community

and young people that would live there.

No pavement and cars travelling at 60 mph in each direction.

I objected to it on that basis.

I won that argument both in council and with the inspector.

My job is to represent the community.

I've agreed in principle that site should be developed

but it had to be developed in the right way.

If you're negotiating with these hard-nosed developers

who are going to make a couple of million quid out of these things,

and I've got no problem with that, but they do it on the basis

they do what's right for the community,

not for them as individuals.

But for this latest application, the Blackhams think they've found

a solution to councillor Jones's objections.

As well as re-opening the pub with its own post office,

they've offered to spend £400,000

laying a footpath from their site to the village, over a mile away.

This hedge here's going to be moved backwards

and we're just going to connect the footpath all the way back

into the village of Tattenhall.

It seems crazy but it's all about sustainability

and for us to get our planning we're going to need

all the sustainability ticks of the boxes.

This was Robin's brainwave.

It's going to cost an awful lot

but we are willing to do that to get our planning

and that's the corner we have been pushed into over the years.

The council's highway office will decide if the footpath

is a good way to connect the development with the rest of the village.

I've always enjoyed highways.

It's always been a passion if I could say that.

I like transport generally. I like large transport, HGVs.

I think I am quite unique perhaps.

I'm sure people would nod when I say that.

Approval from Ken could go a long way towards answering

critics of the Blackhams' plans.

We have got to make sure that users of the highway

are as safe, or safer, as a result of this development.

My concerns are the design of the footway,

and there is the risk of the hedge growing out

and becoming an obstruction on the footway so I have got

to make sure that the footway has sufficient width behind it.

I hope it ticks all the boxes

because at the end of the day, that's what we are here for.

To get development, to get people in houses.

It's Desperate Dan stuff in this country at the moment, isn't it?

When Ken's report comes in, it supports the Blackhams' footpath.

They've got the support of the planners,

now they've got to get past Mike Jones

and the other councillors on the planning committee.

We think they have made enough of a difference now.

We can say it is sustainable development.

So we will look forward to seeing what the planning committee

have to say and whether our recommendation for approval

is the right one.

We'll await the deliberations with interest.

We are apprehensive again.

Every time we have got to this point where everybody's behind it,

it's a ridiculous situation thinking it's going to get knocked back again.

Obviously, as the leader of the council, he's so powerful

he seems to be able to turn the strategic planning committee.

Robin has done everything that the planners have asked.

Every box is ticked, everybody is supporting it

apart from our one fly in the ointment.

Across Britain, most homeowners can do minor building work

under what's known as permitted development.

But some housing estates have these rights taken away.

If owners build a shed or put up a fence,

there's a chance the neighbours can complain to the planning department,

and they'll have to apply for retrospective planning permission.

If a neighbour sees someone building something

and they haven't got planning permission, the first thing they do

is ring the council and you can find yourself

in the middle of a neighbour dispute.

It's tricky but you have to make the right decision.

In Cheltenham, Stuart Millar's planning dispute started

when he pulled down his hedge and replaced it with a small fence.

We've been here three years now.

Just got round to doing the gardens. It was completely overgrown.

Took all the overgrown bushes and hedges away.

Put a fence up. Keep the kids in, let them play safely.

He's off down the road before you know it.

And he's quite hard to catch when he's got a head start.

Come out now? You have locked my gate.

Stuart lives on a typical '70s open plan estate

where all development is restricted to protect the open plan design.

So when Stuart erected his two foot fence without planning permission,

he didn't just break planning laws, he also upset a neighbour.

John Newbury, a retired engineer who enjoys crafting his own furniture.

I decided I wanted to have a sofa.

I decided a conversational sofa would actually be ideal.

You can turn it into somewhere to sleep when you want to have a doze.

Quite a useful piece of furniture, really.

John has lived on the estate for the last 37 years.

It was built when open plan estates were the thing.

Because of the open aspect of the path, you don't feel hemmed in.

There are some gardens that have pleasant flower displays

and this is an attractive feature for passing pedestrians.

And he was walking past all day as we were taking the hedge out

and sort of building and just as we finished,

he wanders up with the land registry papers in hand waving them.

There's a covenant saying that you can't build out in front of the house.

Which is fair enough except for the fact that the hedge

that the fence was replacing was twice the height

and three or four times the width.

John complained to his local councillor

who brought the fence to the attention of the enforcement team

at the council.

Nine times out of ten for a fence like that,

you don't need planning permission, but in that particular estate

they need planning permission, so we had no choice

but to ask for a planning application.

With a formal application submitted,

the public have a right to object or support the fence.

I said this is an inappropriate development for an open plan estate.

"The attractiveness of pedestrian routes relies upon

"the ability to enjoy floral displays,

"quirky gnome arrangements, individual blooms that are passed.

"Erecting a fence makes the route less attractive

"and so discourages people to walk."

Unless he's really small, I can't see how the fence is going

to stop him seeing into the garden, to be honest.

It's the principle. He feels like he can come in

and do what he likes. You have to abide by the rules.

I don't see that it has it upset anyone that much.

It obviously has upset one person that much.

Whether it's the fence or something else, I don't know.

Only he will know.

I actually offered the land registry documents,

and he actually told me to push off, you see.

He effectively said "I am going to ignore your views, so go away."

Now planner Martin must decide

if the fence is in keeping with the estate.

When dealing with larger applications

or smaller applications, you have to consider in the same way.

Is it an appropriate form of development?

If it isn't, what would we want to suggest?

We don't want to make people knock things down for the sake of it.

At the same time, if something is clearly unacceptable

we do have to make the right decision.

In Gloucestershire, Ian and Sarah Ruther

have built a shed without planning permission.

They need to convince the planners it's just to house

Ian's beloved Unimog, rather than a place to carry out

his work as a truck mechanic.

Any complaints that have been made have all been made

about the fact he's running a business,

and it's absolutely crystal clear that he's not.

He hasn't got the time for that. He's got a full-time job

which he's on call for 24/7.

He's not running a business,

he's just tinkering with lots of large toys.

Objectors fear Ian's running a business,

so now the committee will decide if he has to take the shed down.

We like to take the members there. We put them on a bus

and we take them round all the sites. Keep them corralled.

Like herding cats sometimes, to be quite honest.

But before they can make up their minds about the over-sized shed...

Locked, isn't it? That way.

..they need to get in to see it.

I don't know if you can see enough on tip-toe.

You can see just through there.

It is a retrospective application,

considerably larger than a domestic shed.

We've got nothing to hide, we have done nothing wrong.

But even so you still feel they're intruding and it's just excuse

for them to come round and have a good old nosy

at what you've got in your garden.

Hello, I was going to say that if you wanted to see,

-it's best to come round the front.

-That's fine.

We wanted to have a look at where the vehicles

came in and out as well, you see.

And here we have it.

To some extent with retrospectives they are quite good,

-because you can see it.

-Yes!

So we can go up and actually stand in the shade of the building.

And not get rained on.

Really the issue in terms of the local community here, really,

was use and commercial use. I think that's the issue.

It's coming in and out on to quite a narrow lane

if there is commercial use here.

It's disgraceful the amount of people that obviously have got

far too much time on their hands, to actually come round

and have a look at somebody's garden.

All done then? Thank you very much.

Councillors don't receive a salary,

they're local people who represent their community

and have the power to act on their behalf.

I think it was useful to see that.

You've actually got to go in and sense it

and actually get the 360 degree view of it all.

Because it's affecting people's lives. At the end of the day

this person is going to, might have to have his shed knocked down.

We want to get out and feel the atmosphere!

HE CHUCKLES

Ian prefers to let his hands do the talking,

so at the planning committee Sarah is going to make the speech.

I want to sort of like personalise it a bit, make you look human!

All right, best of luck.

THEY CHUCKLE

I mean, the thing is, you've only got three minutes so...

I daresay there will be somebody there with a clapperboard

stopping me as soon as I start.

The planning officers have reached their decision,

but the fate of Ian's shed rests with the planning committee.

Our recommendation will be for approval,

we can't see any reason why it should be refused

but it's just as easy for the members

to take a different view of it and come to the other conclusion,

that it's wrong and that they want to refuse it.

In Rochdale, Shia Muslims want to extend their community centre.

The build will cost £250,000

and the community are at full stretch to fund

a no-frills development.

As a community we will put the money together

to pay for the building work.

One of the main pillars, if you like, of Islam is to pay

this portion of your earnings towards the community.

There are so many ladies that say if you don't have any money...

If you go through with this, we will offer you our jewellery.

But the planners are recommending refusal.

Rebecca Coley is objecting to the building's unimaginative design.

She never switches off, really.

She'll always spot something which

she wouldn't have given planning permission for.

That's true, yes.

In fact she could give you a tour probably and point them out.

But stopping development can make planners unpopular.

You are often dealing with people's hopes and dreams.

They've invested a lot in drawing up the plans.

And then to come up against someone who's saying,

"No," it can be very hard for people, and understandably so.

The community lobbied their ward councillor

to get the decision taken out of the hands

of Rebecca's planning team and before the elected councillors.

Now the councillors are on a visit to the site.

Wow. Wow, I didn't know it was going to be that large.

This is the elevation that is going to be completely blank,

-all the way down to there.

-It is quite big.

-You are right about the parking space.

-Too few.

It needs more than three.

I was surprised how big the development was,

you know, when I came to look at it.

When Rebecca got the drawings out, I didn't know it was that big.

That's the idea of a site visit,

so we come along and we're not just going cold at it,

we've got a feeling of what's going on.

The planning committee members represent a cross section

of the community, from a retired fire officer to a restaurateur.

Their vote will decide the building's fate.

I hope the councillors understand our needs

and hopefully we will get the planning permission for this.

Fingers crossed, yeah.

Pray to God.

In Tattenhall, Cheshire, the planning committee are considering

four applications to build housing estates.

Three are on green fields and one is on a brownfield site.

Never known anything like it...

-Most unusual.

-..in 17 years of being on the planning committee.

The big national house builders want to build

350 new homes on green fields.

Individually they are probably not a problem,

but I'm unsure about them coming together.

The committee members represent their voting constituents,

so the impact on the community is at the forefront of their minds.

-So that's the application site.

-How many houses?

They are saying in the order of 137.

That's the proposed layout.

Have we heard from the people living here and people up there?

-Yes.

-Right.

-The general the response has been highly negative.

-OK.

The villagers have formed action groups to save their green fields.

It's a small insignificant little field

-but it means a lot to the neighbours here.

-70 houses they wish to build.

Instead of building on these fields, they'd rather have houses

on the land owned by Amanda and Robin Blackham.

It's on a disused brownfield site a mile away,

so it's not in anyone's backyard.

It's a brownfield site, yeah, develop it.

What he's suggesting, it's not a massive development,

it will be an improvement to what we've got now.

I think the general feeling in the village is that

it is an acceptable development for a site that frankly

for a number of years now has been an eyesore.

The planning committee must decide if they agree with residents

or if they think that the Blackhams' planning application

should be refused again.

It has twice been through a public enquiry

and has been quite thoroughly investigated previously.

The key issue was the issue of sustainability.

Obviously it provides a footpath and cycleway link

from here back into Tattenhall.

-OK, thanks very much.

-That's the key change between

what you've seen before and what's been through appeal before

-and what you have before you today.

-Right, thank you.

Some of the councillors on this planning committee

are the same members who refused the Blackhams' previous applications.

Very interesting. It has been to planning before and it was refused.

It's not sustainable, with any local shops or anything, is it?

Yes. But we'll have to see.

Yes, I can't comment any further.

The planning committee meeting will decide which,

if any, of the four schemes should get planning permission.

Fiona Edwards and her team are under pressure to approve

5,000 new homes over five years, so she is recommending approval

for all of these controversial applications.

We're in uncharted waters and we're recommending approval

for all of these schemes and, I guess, the man in the street,

quite rightly, would think we are crazy and why are we doing it?

Your gut feeling is that's too many

dwellings in a settlement of this size at one go.

But there's nothing in planning policy terms

that says that we can refuse this.

Tattenhall ward councillor and full-time council leader Mike Jones

fiercely opposes Fiona's recommendation.

And at a planning committee meeting

he can raise his objections on behalf of his constituents.

It's beyond common sense.

These developers have not established that need for

these number of houses in Tattenhall.

There is a lot of fear in there, a lot of people are very frightened

about the impact these houses are going to have on the village.

I think it is really quite sad that a community should be

subjected to such intense attack by developers.

These greenfield sites are going through

the same time as ours, and this is our fear that Mike Jones

is going to put it all in to one basket

and say none of them should be passed.

We should be very excited but we just can't say that we'll get it.

In Gloucestershire, Stroud Planning Committee

will decide whether Ian and Sarah Ruther must demolish the shed

that he built to house his beloved Unimog truck.

-Not quite sure which way it's going to go.

-Fingers crossed.

Yes, could do with it over really, so as we know.

It would be nice to be finished and just move along.

-Yeah, some closure on it really.

-Yes.

I've even typed up a few notes,

just a few spot things that I want to say.

I thought I should come all suited and booted

and show that I mean business,

I'm not going to sit back and be quiet.

Neighbours think Ian wants to use the shed to run a business.

Looking at the actual plans themselves,

it is 11 metres long, I understand, by 4 metres high.

By the size of the plant and machinery which is clearly

on the site already,

the site is more being used as a commercial site.

In no way is it residential.

We would request that the council refuse the application

for retrospective consent. Thank you.

Now it's time for Sarah to persuade the members to vote to approve.

My husband has a fascination for plant, for tractors,

and that is the reason why we bought the property

because of the large ground that it had with it, so that he could house

the rather large Tonka toys that he likes to play with.

A MAN CHUCKLES

With regard to actually having a business,

Ian has very little time to actually carry out business.

One thing I would like to say is that every day, as people,

we fight for the rights to do whatever we want to do,

whether it be religion or whether it be our sexual orientation

and today I would like to fight for my husband's right

to play in his own garden.

Thank you.

After hearing from the applicant and the objectors,

the councillors vote on the future of the Unimog shed.

Would somebody like to make a proposal, please?

We are being more and more cut down on what we can

and can't do in this country, so I will be supporting this. Thank you.

The site may not be to everyone's taste

in terms of the materials and that around the site

but there is certainly a very good and robust fence

all the way around the site so it obscures the view of it

from the public road. So I'll be supporting approval.

So we move to the vote.

All those in favour please show.

-That is everyone.

-That is unanimous, thank you.

For the avoidance of doubt, this application has been approved

and we move to the next item.

I feel quite emotional actually because I can't believe that

so many people actually...

-I didn't expect unanimous, I'll be honest with you.

-No, I didn't.

Just because whatever he is doing is rather large and cumbersome,

it is a hobby, and if he works blinking hard

and wants to do something in his spare time, why not?

I'm not impressed.

Yes. We objected, lots of neighbours objected.

The whole thing is objectionable.

Very little weight was given to anybody's opinion really.

-Thankfully...

-Expensive.

-..it's all over.

-You're just going to have to find the time to play now.

-Yes!

Finish it.

In Cheltenham, homeowner Stuart has replaced a garden hedge

with a two-foot fence.

But neighbour John Newbury has a big problem

with even a small fence on the open plan estate.

He tipped off the planning enforcement team

and Stuart has had to spend £150

on a retrospective planning application.

Planning Officer Martin Chandler from Cheltenham Borough Council

is going to see the disputed fence for himself.

When we are dealing with retrospective applications

there is always a bit of contention,

and I am not surprised in this instance

you have got a strong objection based on the fact that

it's an open plan estate and I am sure the gentleman likes living on

an open plan estate and he wants to sort of protect it where possible.

It's quite a low key addition to the street.

When we are looking at any proposal it's all about,

does it complement and respect the surroundings?

In the UK around 90% of all planning applications

are decided by planning officers and now it's up to Martin

to settle this dispute.

-Mr Newbury.

-What's going on?

I'm from the planning department,

one of the officers at the council, I am aware of your objection.

I thought whilst I am in the area,

I might come and have a chat to you about it.

-Hiya, I'm Martin Chandler.

-Nice to meet you.

This is an interesting sofa.

I have just been to have a look at the fence

and I appreciate your objection because of the open plan issue.

Having seen the fence I really can't see a refusal

of planning permission being an option.

But this piece of paper from Tewksbury Borough Council

produced in September 1978 says, "No private garages,

"extensions, sheds, fences or other means of enclosure

"are permitted as part..."

No, it means that they need planning permission,

doesn't mean that they won't be permitted,

but it means that they need planning permission.

"..other than those admitted, can be erected or constructed

"without the prior permission of the local authority."

If we were to refuse planning permission for that fence

and we were to go to an appeal,

there is no chance that that appeal would be defended.

So... I think you have got the wrong attitude.

Someone is going to say, "Oh, look, there's a picket fence there,

"and therefore we'll build a wall." Is that permitted?

No, it would need planning permission.

So effectively, it's all sort of,

you are actually taking away the open plan nature of the estate.

Of course, it is going to change with every development, isn't it?

Therefore the development should be refused.

No, because change is not necessarily harmful.

Yes, it's an open plan estate, does the fence cause harm to that?

I don't think it does, it's a low fence.

It doesn't matter, it's a fence!

I don't think this authority would want to refuse planning permission for it.

I appreciate that you don't agree with the decision.

It was nice to meet you.

Always nice to have a debate on the issues.

He's thinking of sort of ways out.

He wants to actually minimise the amount of money he spends.

Effectively, if this chap goes to appeal, as he says,

it's going to cost the council money.

It was quite clear having been to the site,

having seen the context that the fence is not harmful at all,

so to refuse it would be a nonsense really.

So, yeah, we will be recommending approval for this one.

As far as I'm concerned, it's a victory for common sense.

One of the objections was that it closed off the garden space

and put people off from seeing floral displays

and quirky gnomes, so I bought a quirky gnome.

He's got pride of place right by the front door. Just there.

In Rochdale, there is a stand off

between planning officer Rebecca Coley

and Shia Muslims who want to extend their community centre.

Tonight the planning committee meets,

but will members back Rebecca's recommendation to refuse?

Application for a two-storey

and three-storey rear extension at Mustafa Islamic Community Centre.

Can we have the applicant, please?

Our centre provides a very valuable service to our community.

Raza Hussain, a teacher at the centre,

has his chance to convince members to approve the scheme.

I am personally involved with the Sunday classes,

which is preventing violent extremism

so not only do we serve our own Muslim community,

we are serving the Rochdale community at large as well.

The truth of the matter is, we are a minority Islamic group...

Theirs is the only centre for Shia Muslims in Rochdale,

but Rebecca wants the committee to understand

her reasons for recommending refusal.

The car parking requirement for that amount of floor space is 115 spaces.

They are providing three.

The site could be sold on to

somebody who does occupy it more intensively.

Have you ever had any parking issue or an accident around your centre?

There's been no conflict, no issues.

There have been certainly no casualties or accidents.

We have good relationships with neighbours, in fact.

I would like to recommend permission to be granted

on the basis of information we have received.

One councillor wants to cut the debate short

and push for a vote in favour of the community's extension plans,

dismissing Rebecca's parking concerns.

And I feel that we should grant permission.

Can I second that, please? Can we go for a vote?

I understand from the officer that they have been in negotiations, and

they refused your recommendations on the modifications.

I would like to know what those are before I vote yes or no on this one.

I think we will go to a vote.

Chair of the planning committee, Councillor Begum

is also keen for members to reach a decision.

It is getting very late, we have to finish in five minutes.

We don't want to defer anything else.

What were you saying? Just quickly, please.

Yes. There are two reasons for refusal. If you are recommending it

for approval, you do need to make some reference to the design reason.

And that you think the design is acceptable if that is the case?

It's not going to increase number of users,

it is going to offer modern facilities,

especially disabled access.

If we are sitting here making important decisions,

to grant permission rather than refuse it,

-it is important that we discuss it.

-It's already been seconded.

I want to understand the design reasons

why officers are saying that we should refuse that.

At the moment I cannot make a decision.

-Excuse me, am I chairing this meeting?

-Yes.

-Thank you.

-Can we just vote quickly, please?

-I can't vote!

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

Thank you, so that vote is carried and it's approved.

-Thank you.

-APPLAUSE

In the final moments of the committee meeting,

the majority of the local councillors

decide to disregard Rebecca's planning recommendation.

In many cases members make decisions politically,

they are elected to serve a community

and they want to be re-elected.

But that is politics.

I also think that members really felt that for this particular

community having these facilities would be very important.

I think the decision was right.

Speechless, we are so happy now.

We are making decisions which are affecting people's lives

and it's important that we get it right

and sometimes we don't get it right,

but more often than not people go away knowing that

we've done our best and that's what we have been elected to do.

A planning officer can make their recommendation,

write their report, but they do not always have the final say.

The general public look at a building

and if they don't like it they will blame the planners.

I don't think that they consider for a moment

that the decision might not have been what the planners wanted.

We are trying to improve the environment as a whole

and we don't feel this kind of scheme does that

and it will be there for as long as it's there,

and that could be more than 100 years.

After a five-year battle, today Robin and Amanda Blackham

will find out if they've got planning permission

to build 31 houses on their brownfield development site.

What will be will be, what we have done so far

is the best we can do.

If the Blackhams don't get permission today,

they'll lose hundreds of thousands and may have to sell their home

It's the end game, we shall see what happens today.

The planning department supports their application,

but the elected councillors will decide

if they can have permission to proceed.

The committee also has to decide on

three other housing estate applications in the village.

It's a big day for the residents of Tattenhall.

Nervous, yes, anxious,

worried about our fields and our village.

But we're hoping people power will prevail, and common sense.

Tonight is going to be...

heated I think is a good word

because obviously we're recommending approval on all the applications

we have got in Tattenhall and

clearly those recommendations affect an awful lot of local people.

The first application is the Blackhams scheme...

Councillor Jones.

..and their main adversary, Council Leader Mike Jones, takes the floor.

Thank you, Chairman.

As you are aware, I have spoken strongly for refusal

on two counts in the past due to a lack of sustainability

and the lack of...

The Blackhams can only listen as councillor Jones goes over

familiar territory.

The refusal has been supported after two separate planning enquiries

by two separate planning inspectors.

Albeit I have publicly said that with the right type of development,

I would support development on this site.

But then councillor Jones changes his theme.

I think that the provision of a footpath will massively improve

the safety of the route for pedestrians

and I am sure will be well used.

I am satisfied that with this application being a full application,

it's on a brownfield site,

and includes the planning gain of a significant community investment of a footpath,

it is a rational decision to grant permission for this application,

satisfying the previous concerns that I've had.

I request members to agree permission for this application.

Thank you, Chair.

APPLAUSE

After opposing the scheme for years,

Councillor Jones has spoken in favour of the Blackhams' development.

Will the committee members now agree with him?

It's a brownfield site, it's an improvement to the area.

It is well laid out, there's a new footpath link.

Highways are happy. I am very happy to support this.

In that case we will move to the vote.

Those in favour of the recommendation, please show.

Thank you very much, that was passed unanimously.

APPLAUSE

At the end of a five-year battle,

the Blackhams have finally got their planning permission.

The committee now need to decide whether they should also allow

the other developers to build on Tattenhall's green fields.

It is basically surrounding Tattenhall with

one great big housing estate.

APPLAUSE

It appears to be almost like a bloody free for all.

It's wrong and I can't support this.

APPLAUSE

All those in favour of the refusal, please show.

The refusal is carried so the application is refused.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Committee members have turned down permission

for all the other applications in the village.

And the Blackhams have the outcome they so desperately needed.

You could clearly see the applicant was delighted.

Mrs B has been absolutely fantastic.

He persevered and he's got the positive outcome that he needs.

We couldn't believe it until we saw the show of hands,

which was amazing.

It was an absolutely beautiful victory.

Next time...

in Chester, the planning committee and the architect

aren't quite on the same page...

Whoever designed that needs to be shot.

It is a complete mess.

..the enforcement officer deals with what seemed like a good idea

after a night at the pub.

I'm quite surprised, the lines are quite straight.

I'm not sure I could paint lines quite that straight

And the new girl on Stroud's planning committee cuts her teeth

helping to decide the fate of a 13th-century mansion.

I was up at five o'clock this morning swotting it up

because we have got the planning Bible, if I can reach it.

I can't reach it because I'm too fat.

What do you want to do?

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