Put planning in private hands

I have been in planning for 30 years and for the last six years I have worked under the Approved Inspector umbrella, relating to Building Regulations applications, both domestic and commercial.

Local authority building control has always looked on the Approved Inspector route as a soft option. I know from experience that this is not correct. Approved Inspectors are governed by the CIC, and although a lot of the red tape is cut, compliance must be achieved before the final certificate is released.

More and more builders are now using the Approved Inspector route, and indeed many of the builders who are dealing with old applications are saying that since the increase in Approved Inspectors, local authority building control staff are changing their attitude and trying to win back the confidence of builders. The clients that I deal with say they prefer the service I provide.

I have lobbied various bodies, and I have also told local authorities, including my own, Swindon, that until there is competition within the planning procedures, the planning departments and their attitudes will not change.

They know that an individual can go nowhere for planning permission, and they are using this to their advantage.

People, me included, are sick to the back teeth of being messed around by petty individuals within the planning departments.

Large contentious developments should be put before the local authority for consultation, but smaller domestic/loft conversions could be dealt with by a private concern which is licenced the same as the CIC. If this was put in place, I know for certain that local planning authorities would change their attitude overnight and applications would move freely, but under control.

Terry Griffin MCIOB