South Bucks District Council Planning Department does a U-turn again

Khalsa Secondary School, Stoke Poges - South Bucks District Council Planning Department does a U-turn again

The recent report published by Richard Regan of South Bucks District Council's planning department, recommends a refusal to the planning committee on the grounds of too much noise due to the occasional weekend activity of children playing football matches with other children from local schools and the noise generated from an annual summer fete.

On the issue of noise, the previous report from Richard Regan for a school planning application, stated that:

"Upon reviewing the application and the noise management statement, the Council’s Environmental Health Department raise no objections or concerns on this matter. In light of these comments, it is considered that there would be insufficient grounds to justify a refusal on adverse impacts on neighbouring properties as a result of noise created by the use of the site as a school"

This new report for the Class K application states that:

"Based on the current noise management plan, we do have concerns that there will be some impact on local residents. These concerns mainly relate to weekend activities, such as football matches and fetes which we feel would result in an intensification of local noise sources, and as such would be likely to lead to complaints from local residents. Therefore, the generation of noise will adversely affect the amenity of local residents contrary to policy EP3 (f) of the South Bucks District Local Plan (adopted March 1999)". He fails to mention what the Environmental Health Departments view is this time, from which we conclude it still has no concerns to raise.

On the issue of traffic, the previous report stated that "....As such, it is not considered that there would be any justifiable grounds for objecting to the proposal on the basis that traffic movements associated with the new school would have an adverse impact on the character and appearance of Stoke Poges Village" and therefore traffic would not be a reason for refusal.

Furthermore, the planning department was criticised of doing a U-turn at the last minute for the previous school application which was probably a result of political pressure. Cllr Ralph Bagge is the Chair of the Planning Committee as well as Chair of Stoke Poges Parish Council and therefore the political boss of the planning department.

Cllr Bagge has acknowledged the potential perception that he will have a conflict of interest, as he is also a resident and chairman of Stoke Poges Parish Council.  It is bizarre, to say the least, that he has sought to resolve the risk of conflict by seeming to stand aside from discussions in the parish council (though he is still present at some of those discussions, according to minutes of the Parish Council’s meetings).  Clearly the risk of conflict arises in his role on the district council planning committee and this is the role he should step down from, when the committee considers KSA’s application for Pioneer House.

This recent decision represents the third U turn by the planning department of the District Council.  The first, which has not been mentioned to date, was that the Khalsa School previously sought guidance from a planning officer to establish the school on the grounds of Stoke House and were vehemently told that this was impossible as the land was in a conservation and green belt area. However earlier this year, the planning committee approved 24 new houses to be built on the same grounds and on the green belt.

This recent decision is irrational and seriously questions the credibility of the South Bucks Planning Department. If the planning committee members support the refusal of the Class K application then they risk the Council being exposed to a legal challenge and potential significant costs to the taxpayer.

We the parents and supporters ask that South Bucks District Council and members of the planning committee ensure that they take into careful consideration the far-reaching implications of having a member with a serious conflict of interest as part of the planning process.

We urge you to support the Class K application.