MEMBERS of a planning committee have raised concerns after it emerged a contentious planning application had not been properly advertised to the public.

At the most recent meeting of Bradford Council's Regulatory and Appeals Committee, one item on the agenda was a retrospective planning application for a roof extension and dormer windows to 8 Highfield Place, Heaton.

The site is in a conservation area, and the work is subject to an ongoing enforcement enquiry.

A report to the committee had recommended the plans, submitted by Amarazun Bibi, be refused, with planning officers claiming the dormers were "poorly designed features" that "will cause significant harm to the visual amenity of the local environment and the character and appearance of the St Paul’s Conservation Area in which the site is located."

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But at the online meeting, members were told that the Council had failed to advertise the planning application through the local press, and a site notice - required by planning law.

The committee was asked to defer the plans to a future meeting so the advertisements could be placed, and the public properly informed of the application.

Members were unhappy that the application had got to the stage where an 11 page report into the plans had been written up by Council officers, and that the application had come before a committee, before the mistake was noticed.

Councillor Geoff Reid (Lib Dem, Eccleshill) said: "It was a technical mistake, but it was a mistake, and we've found ourselves in an unhealthy position.

"I hope we don't find ourselves in that position again."

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Chair Councillor David Warburton (Lab, Wyke) said: "I have concerns over how we had got into this position, where an application that has been with officers for this amount of time and this oversight hadn't been picked up. The publicity had not been checked correctly.

"It is an oversight, however we don't want things like this to continue. We really need to have the full confidence in the reports that come before us."

The application will be discussed once it has gone through the proper planning process.