Didn’t take notice of the parish when planning

HATHERN Parish Council notes with interest the Echo’s comments about the planning process in Charnwood.

As a parish council, we are informed about every planning application in our area, and invited to submit comments.

Contrary to the belief of some, we do not take part in the planning decision – that is the remit of the borough council.

We take our responsibilities very seriously.

Councillors study the application documentation, carefully consider the effect of the proposal and submit our views.

Our frustration is that we cannot remember the last time Charnwood Borough Council took any notice of our submissions.

One of the consequences is that Hathern has grown in size by over 25 per cent in five years.

Charnwood Borough Council will no doubt point to the lack of a core strategy preventing their rejection of developments in Hathern, yet comparable applications in other parts of the borough have been rejected for reasons similar to those we have submitted.

If all villages in Charnwood had increased in size as Hathern has, would there have been a need for a major development on the Garendon estate?

Councillor Eric Vardy points out that many of the issues with the planning process are beyond the control of Charnwood Borough Council as they are part of a national system, but appears to conclude that there need be no improvement to the planning process locally. We disagree. Parish and town councils have a great deal of local knowledge which can be used to achieve the best outcome.

If Charnwood Borough Council engaged more with us it would result both in improved understanding and a better service for the public.

Could we clarify the reference to Hathern Parish Council in the letter from Coun Robert Sharp ( Echo, March 8).

The credit for the expansion of Hathern C of E Primary School lies with the head teacher and school governors, not with ourselves.

While supporting the extension to the school, Hathern Parish Council expressed concern about the consequential traffic and road safety problems in a dead end lane to Leicestershire County Council, the planning authority in this case.

In line with our usual experience, our comments were disregarded and we received no response on the matter.

Dave Neville vice chair, Hathern Parish Council