News just in: the decision to give planning permission for two new university buildings on Old Road is going to be subject to review. Over twelve councillors have supported a move to call in the decision to the new Planning Review Committee. The application will therefore be debated by a different set of councillors on 31st August.

This does not mean that the decision is bound to be over-turned. It is even possible for the Planning Review Committee to revise the decision of East Area Planning Committee to make the conditions imposed less stringent. As I have mentioned before, I pushed successfully for the Committee to call for an increase in developer contributions — it would now be within the Planning Review Committee’s powers to reverse that decision and return the money paid by the developer for initiatives like Controlled Parking Zones to the figure originally suggested.

That said, this call-in does give your local councillors and the local community to put pressure on the applicant and the Council to reach a more reasonable decision — one, we would hope, that would be fully informed and carefully considered in a way that I, sitting on East Area Planning Committee, did not feel happened last time. Ruth and I will, of course, be working hard to make sure residents’ legitimate concerns are taken into account this time.