South Wales Evening Post - 16 December 2008
IS there anyone out there who thinks Gower is a little over-rated?
Very few, I'd imagine. No wonder passions get so inflamed over what gets built in Britain's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
A stream of letters has dropped into the Evening Post letterbox since news broke of the strange case of Cefn Bryn, Penmaen.
This was the striking modern house dubbed a "Dallas-style" mansion by the councillor who did not bring it to the attention of the planning committee he chairs.
Councillor Richard Lewis has consistently "called in" planning applications for his Gower ward so they can be scrutinised by fellow councillors.
On this occasion, he insisted, he assumed the controversial scheme to replace a thatched farmhouse was on its way to the area two development control committee.
But it wasn't — and the plans, submitted by Swansea businessman Martin Morgan materialised after approval by planning officers.
The council said Councillor Lewis had been notified officers were recommending the scheme, which sparked four letters of objection, for approval.
While people may not agree with the planners' decision on the plans, it was not taken lightly. And extra endorsement was given by architectural group Design Commission for Wales.
The saga has put the planning system under the spotlight, with some people claiming it gives too much influence to unelected officers. Others were surprised something like this slipped under a councillor's radar.
You can also imagine planning officers feeling rather under siege.
It's important to remember that all applications can be determined by officers, except in seven specific circumstances listed in the council constitution.
The key safeguard is that when officers intend to approve a scheme that has objections, the ward councillor is notified. That gives him or her the chance to call it in.
Furthermore, when the list of new planning applications is published every week, councillors can call them in at that early stage as well.
Just for the record, if you want an application decided by councillors, submit a petition of objection with 30 or more signatures and tell the relevant area development control committee you want to address it.
Another application for a new house in Gower has also ruffled feathers, in nearby Pennard.
The very modern, U-shaped house on Pennard Road is under construction. It had three letters of objection, and there were mutterings that ward councillor Margaret Smith should have called it in.
Councillor Smith has defended her stance.
"The house it has replaced was an inter-war chalet on stilts," she said. "The house is remote — and the nearest neighbour didn't object.
"The new house was approved under delegated powers, but only after scrutiny, including by myself. The scheme was amended three times.
"If I was unhappy with the final plan, I would have called it in."
She also pointed out that taxpayers foot the bill for planning appeals if schemes are turned down against planners' advice.
And while she didn't want Hollywood-style mansions dotted around the peninsula, she said: "We have to move with the times."
The council's head of planning, Bryan Graham, said all applications were treated equally by officers, while councillors were advised to take decisions purely on planning grounds.
Delegated powers had been expanded to speed the decision- making process, he said.
Did his officers feel undermined when application after application was called in?
"I don't think it's a case of being undermined," he said.
"For better or worse, it's a democratic process."
Mr Graham conceded that recruiting and retaining staff was a problem, and that officers' workload had dramatically increased in recent years. Between April 2007 to March 2008 officers dealt with 57 per cent of applications within eight weeks. The target is 80 per cent.
The Assembly Government's over-arching planning policy states that local development plans affecting AONBs "should favour conservation of natural beauty, although it will also be appropriate to have regard to the economic and social well-being of the areas".
Conservation versus tourism is perhaps a blunter way of putting it.
Mr Graham said: "Any development should have special regard to the preservation of its natural beauty. That is the starting point for all applications."
He added the council was looking to adopt a new design guide for Gower.
Not before time, said Gower Society chairman Malcolm Ridge.
He is not alone in believing inconsistency has dogged planning in Gower.
"A design guide should help architects and builders, and make the council's job easier," he said.
Fellow society member Gordon Howe reckoned the guidance was already contained in the authority's own development plan.
"All they have to do is interpret it consistently and correctly — then nobody can whinge," he said.
