22 September 2016
Green councillors have called for a moratorium on development in areas of the city with a high risk of flooding, after a controversial planning application was deferred again following an objection from the local flood authority.
More than 100 people objected to the application for St Peter’s Church on Park Lane, which would have seen the church, church hall and the Boys’ Brigade building turned into 12 flats and 8 houses. Planning officers recommended the application for approval; but the proposal became mired in controversy when local Green councillors discovered that Norwich City Council had failed to consult Norfolk County Council, the lead local flood authority – even though the application was in what is known as a Critical Drainage Catchment.
Green Party county councillor Andrew Boswell, who represents Nelson division (which includes Park Lane), contacted the county council to draw their attention to the application – but time was short. The county council eventually sent its response to the city council’s planners on Wednesday, less than 24 hours before the meeting, objecting to the application on the grounds that it was too risky and did not have a proper strategy for preventing flooding.
Councillor Boswell said:
“It was clearly irresponsible of Norwich City Council not to have consulted the county council as lead flood authority – indeed, they are legally obliged to do so. Their incompetence has led to this decision being delayed for a second time, causing a lot of distress and inconvenience to residents.
“We want to see this application turned down, as it is completely inappropriate. We need a moratorium on development in all three Critical Drainage Catchments in the city, to protect Norwich and its residents from increased flooding.”
Councillor Boswell and his colleague Councillor Tim Jones also argued that the viability assessment, in which the developers argued they could not afford to provide affordable housing, was flawed.
Developments of more than 10 homes are legally obliged to provide some units of affordable housing, or the equivalent funds to build them elsewhere.
However, developers are exempt if they can show that this would make the project financially unviable for them. This has led to some cases around the country of developers overestimating the costs of a project and underestimating the value of the houses, in order to argue that they cannot provide affordable housing and still make a reasonable profit. Councillors Boswell and Jones argue that this has happened in the case of the St Peter’s Church application.
“The Council have agreed a viability assessment which is flawed and misleading,” said Cllr Boswell.
“Our analysis of the viability assessment, using very conservative market values, shows the Council willing to throw away a potential of over half a million pounds which could be used for affordable housing elsewhere in the City.
“It does not reflect well on the Planning Department that this application has been able to reach this stage.”
