Friday, December 18, 2009

Glorious moments in local democracy (part 4,391)

I have recently found myself with something of a (temporary) dilemma. As a Parish Councillor, I am responsible for considering any planning application that falls within the boundaries of Creeting St Peter - we are a statutory consultee. However, the latest application was from me, or to be more accurate us.

Fine, you might think. Declare interest, withdraw from discussion, problem solved. Unfortunately, in Creeting St Peter, life is not that simple. We have never been at full strength - five - and at the moment are just three in number. So, by declaring an interest, I thus made the body inquorate, and they could not reach a view. Not ideal, I would suggest.

At least the neighbours were consulted, and a sign went up notifying the village that our application was in. However, it does seem wrong that a public meeting didn't take place to discuss the matter, even if we had taken every precaution to ensure that we fulfilled every dot and comma of planning law.

Ah well, we did get planning permission, and building will start shortly on the office that I've always dreamt of...

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