SIR – Bradford Council shouldn’t be slackening its enforcement of planning rules. It should be tightening them up.
It is clear from the announcement that the planning department “is looking to change its priorities” and that “insignificant developments will not be investigated” that this is budget-driven, and so is a by-product of the Council’s craven surrender to Eric Pickles’s financial blackmail.
For many years now, it has been easy for the well-advised to drive a coach and horses through the existing rules, often ignoring planning decisions which are then amended to reflect this defiance, so this new ruling will only make things worse.
After all, what is an “insignificant development”? Who is to decide? It should be the properly-constituted planning adjudicators, not one of the faceless clerks in City Hall.
If the planning department is over-stretched and needs more money to employ enough staff to deal with the workload, they should bring their concerns to the full Council. With the new balance of power in the Council, who knows, they might get what they need.
Karl Dallas, Church Green, Bradford
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