1) Back Land Development
2) The retention of residential properties (Houses) 125 square metres or less as a Single unit, (Not to be converted into flats).
I would also like the following items to be considered for inclusion in the document mentioned in the subject title.
Consistency with regard to planning decisions througout the Borough.
Provision that says that if a resident is converting the front/back of his property to a hard standing in order to accommodate a vehicle. The hard standing should be constructed of a material, which will not only support a vehicle, but also allow any surface rainwater to pass through the material to the ground below the hard standing.
We are now seeing more gardens being converted to a hard standing for the parking of vehicles, the drainage system on the highways, is unable to cope with the additional volume of water, created by the water, which would have been absorbed in the gardens, now being diverted onto the highway.
In many cases we are now seeing a potential for flooding as the drainage systems located on the highways are unable to cope with the volume of water after a heavy downpour, plus water which would have been absorbed within the gardens.
A vehicle should not be parked on the hard standing with part of the vehicle protruding onto the pavement. As this causes problems to pedestrians, prams and wheelchairs, if necessary, enforcement (possible a fixed penalty) needs to be introduced in order to deter the vehicle owner.
Many vehicle owners are using the kerbs verges and the pavements for parking, this practice not only erodes the verges it also undermines the kerbs and pavements reducing the width of the pavements thereby causing problems to the pedestrians wheelchair users and people with prams, when we complain we are told by the council it is a police matter, but as we all know, the police do not have the resources, the above could be given to the Parking Enforcement Officers to police, possible using fixed penalty fines.
The Council over the years has gone to considerable expense to order to provide bus bays at bus stops, very often these bus bays are being occupied by vehicles other than buses, this not only causes problems to the bus user it also reduces the width of the road thereby impeding the flow of the traffic.
We should be able to deal with this problem using the technology at our disposal.
Certain areas of the Country have banned anyone selling a vehicle from the highway, I fully except that we have a by law which says a car trader cannot sell more than one vehicle within a certain distance of another on the highway, but clearly this by law in many cases is not working, to many agencies involved, what is required is to review of the contract with the Parking Enforcement Officers and give them the additional powers in order to enforce the bylaw (fixed penalty fines).
In certain areas of the town where there are empty commercial premises, the premises next to the empty premises are using the forecourt belong to the empty premises as additional selling area. Can an additional amount be raised with regard to business rates?
The Council has, I understand a requirement of 10% renewable energy, for new build residential properties, I understand that a higher figure can now be achieved with regarding renewable energy, therefore this figure should be increased substantially to reflect the advances in using renewable energy systems, this should also apply to commercial premises. The % figure should be looked at and increased each year as advances occur.
When a person applies for Planning Permission in order to process a planning application there is a charge involved, this charge is paid by the person who is applying for planning permission, however if the person does not apply for planning permission and proceeds to build/convert a property, and at a later date they are advised to apply for retrospective planning permission the cost to the person is the same, this cannot be right, the person who has built or converted without planning permission should be charged an additional amount.
When considering a planning application for a development with regarding to housing. I firmly believe that we should be asking for 3/4 bed houses with gardens, not flats and a substantial amount of the houses should be for the rental market only, controlled by the Council or Housing Association, in order that we can house families on low incomes where the bread winner is in a essential job which is low paid, and the borough depends upon.
I fully understand that some of the above might not fall within the remit of this consultation, however, the majority of the above does or will affect the residents of the town.