It’s been a while since attending committee in person, and even today we chose to use zoom rather than travel. Long may hybrid meetings last. It was interesting to see the dynamic in a newly formed committee. It will be key to watch how the officer-councillor relationship develops. Fireworks maybe.

More importantly, Pete supported an application where a previous application had been refused. Without going into the merits of the previous refusal (ok then we will, its a bit harsh but we could see why officers might have got themselves there) a client recommended me to take a critical view over the refused scheme and tell it ‘as it is’. Apparently because I do that, I can be a little bit like marmite.

Seems some prospective clients don’t necessarily like being told what they don’t want to hear.

Really?

Pete can live with that. We’ve made lots of clients very happy with that approach over the last 15 years and the few who don’t like being given robust professional advice can freely access the myriad of other options out there.

I digress. Pete reviewed, advised (marmite style, love it or loathe it). Seems the client is a twiglet lover and so we were instructed. We engaged planners, ring fencing the areas we both agreed on and focussed on the points where we disagreement could be turned around. A couple of steps and Pete had confidence to advise the revised scheme be redrawn and readied for planning.

Today planning committee endorsed the officers recommendation to approve. The only disappointment is that one member voted against.

It’s good to leave room for improvement. Thanks to BRArchitecture for his skills and imagination