Residents will have been pleased to see the news that J.P. Morgan have agreed with them and recognized that the proposed St. Alphage development wasn't suitable for the site; and also that the Communities Secretary Hazel Blears has turned down the plans to replace Smithfield market buildings with new offices.
That leaves some big questions of the City's approach to planning. The heavy-handed approach to these big schemes has not only raised controversy - it also hasn't proved to be very effective.
When lobbying the Comon Councillors who sit on the planning committe we are told that they can only judge the proposal against the planning criteria, and while that's true, the point is that those criteria are set by the City itself. Many local authorities will produce a plannng brief for a site to guide developers in what would be acceptable.
Also the planning framework is being reviewed at the moment as the old Unitary Development Plan has expired and only some of the polices from it in are in effect. If residents want to make sure that schemes are evaluated against suitable criteria, such as the co-existence of business and residents and the integrity of the highwalk access then we will have to make sure that our views are represented as those policies are being set.
As we look forward to electing a new Common Council next year we have the opportunity to put the quality of the governance of the City at the forefront of our selection of a new Common Council
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