Thank you to Woolf Bond Planning who presented to the Odiham Parish Council Planning & Development committee members on Tuesday. The presentation, on behalf of TA Fisher, updated on the latest concept plans for the proposed development on land to the east of Hook Road. The presentation can be read HERE
The presentation was a general update to Councillors prior to submitting the planning application. No application or pre-application was under consideration at the meeting. The developer expects to submit the application soon and Odiham Parish Council will consider its response at a future meeting which will be held in person.
It is common practice for developers to meet and present with parish and town councils on larger developments, especially where the development site is listed in the Neighbourhood Plan. Developers must consult communities before submitting certain planning applications, having regard to any advice that their local planning authority may provide. Communities do not have the power of veto over whether a planning application can be submitted.
Thank you to everyone who joined this meeting by Zoom and apologies to anyone who was unable to find the Zoom link to join the meeting. Zoom links are published on agendas and all Council agendas and minutes can be found at https://odihamparishcouncil.gov.uk/…/planning…
You can also ask the Parish Office to send the link by email.
Many local councils are now using different methods for submitting planning comments because of a reduction in the consultation period. Hart reduced their consultation period from 28 to 21 days last year which made it difficult to complete the process of issuing an agenda and holding a face-to-face meeting in time. The power to hold virtual meetings was granted in the Coronavirus Act in 2020 which ended in May 2021 but many parish councils noticed how virtual meetings actually increased community interests in local matters and moved towards different ways of working. OPC’s informal Zoom meetings draw up a list of comments and the Clerk submits these to Hart using a Scheme of Delegation. This allows Councillors to join discussions if they are away or held up at work and gives OPC the best chance of submitting comments for all applications in the Parish. The comments are then ratified at the next full Council meeting and can be withdrawn should, in the unlikely event, they not be approved by the full Council. This process is perfectly acceptable to auditors.