Petition Review of Planning Inspectorate

It is perverse that a decision to refuse a planning application by a planning committee consisting of democratically elected councillors representing communities can be easily overturned by an unelected official of the planning inspectorate. It is even more bizarre that the decision is made by a single member of the Planning Inspectorate. The question has to be asked that if a different member of the Planning Inspectorate was appointed to chair the hearing would the outcome be the same. No guarantees could be given that it would. With the advent of the Localism Bill, the present Planning Inspectorate requires an urgent review by members of parliament including the way appeals are heard to ensure that the public can be confident that their concerns are being dealt with. There are many other aspects of the Planning Inspectorate that require addressing and only a drastic overhaul of the Inspectorate would address these issues.