What a surprise – Cheshire East’s new planning IT system which “allows” residents to upload objections to planning applications is not fit for purpose!
I don’t know why I am surprised. It makes a complete mockery of the planning system and residents are rightly fed up. The new software was meant to help, but my inbox is full of correspondence from angry residents wanting to have their say who cannot. They’ve tried to submit objections multiple times and on different devices, but more often than not the new system does not work.
There is a time frame to object and people are missing the deadline! To make matters worse, Cheshire East is still insisting on objections going through the planning portal – the same portal that does not work!
And, sadly as I have come to expect from the council, little is being done to resolve the problem. Instead, I am being told they are “working with the supplier to resolve the issues when they occur.”
I’ve spoken to senior members of the planning team and have now made a formal complaint about the lack of action and have written to Rob Polkinghorne, the Chief Executive, asking for him to intervene.
New systems can have glitches but the council need to be proactive and provide an interim solution. Something as simple as an email address could be set up whereby residents can submit their opposition, and then the relevant objections tied to the individual applications.
When challenged on the issue the council in an email the council said, “we do everything possible to ensure that we do receive representation from members of the public and all of the comments are taken into account.”
I am not sure as to how this can be true given people cannot upload anything to the portal. It feels like the council are disenfranchising people.
One resident I spoke to in recent days rightly said the process is flawed and undemocratic and when he has raised his concerns with the council, he was met with “the normal silence.”
The council’s planning committee cannot be making decisions without the full facts in front of them. We have so many applications going through at the moment affecting all parts of the constituency and the inability to communicate with the local authority is a real problem.
Like on so many other issues, it is clear the voice of residents – the people the council are meant to serve – are not important. I hope the chief executive will step in and realise people have the right to make representation.
