Around one in four planning applications ending in failure

Friday 05 April 2024

More planning applications are ending in failure than ever before, while there are concerns that politicians on the Planning Committee are increasingly likely to ignore official advice, according to a £13,500 report by a UK expert.

In a follow-up to a scathing review of the department last year which called for “radical improvements”, Jim McKinnon CBE noted that there had been a “sustained increase in the percentage of applications refused”.

The ‘failure rate’ for applications was around one in 10 in 2014, but Mr McKinnon’s report – published this morning – showed that, last year, as many as one in four applications ended in failure.

Part of the blame in the report, which was based on statistics and discussions with the Environment Minister, planning staff and other stakeholders, was levelled at politicians.

Pictured: The growing 'failure rate' was highlighted in the report.

“It was also suggested that the Planning Committee was increasingly likely to refuse applications and less likely to take a decision in accordance with planning officials' advice. At a recent meeting of the Committee, four out of nine decisions on applications and three of the five decisions on reviews were made contrary to recommendations,” the report said.

Similar criticism was also recently levelled at the Government when the former Assistant Environment Minister rejected the Les Sablons development against official advice – a decision which ended up being reversed following a legal challenge for which the taxpayer had to foot the bill.

The report also noted that staffing the Planning Department remained “challenging”, with the departures of two senior staff adding pressure. It also outlined a number of “welcome” appointments, including trainee planners, but noted that this would mean experienced staff may be diverted from handling major applications while training takes place.

To ease demands on the service, four compliance officers were employed last year but the report said that they are “no longer part of the staff complement”, adding: “Demands on the Compliance Team are increasing with more enforcement notices being served plus new responsibilities (not yet fully introduced) in relation to the Protection of Agricultural Land and Wildlife Law”.

The report also touched on staff morale, noting that many felt “senior management were not appreciative of the pressures” on them, nor were they “sufficiently engaged in managing the challenges facing the service”. 

“There was a feeling that senior management in the service had adopted a smoke and mirrors apoproach to disguise the fundamental problems facing the service, including low morale, and a firm hope that a further review in 2025 would be commissioned,” the report said.

Staff also cited the “rising number of decisions taken by the Committee against professional advice be it from the Island’s Planners or Inspectors” as a concern.

The report stated that architects, “although less forceful in their comments, had concerns on similar lines”.

Frustrations were also expressed by the industry over the lack of clarity over who to contact on certain matters.

“Inconsistent and Inflexible interpretation of policies in the Bridging Island Plan was problematic while the lack of experienced staff with the confidence to engage positively and constructively with formulating development proposals was frustrating,” the report said of architects.

Pictured: Jim MacKinnon CBE, a former Chief Planner to the Scottish Government, wrote a review which found that the processes seeking planning permission were "seriously dysfunctional" and required "radical improvements".

“One architect commented that planners no longer plan – they react, seek more information/further studies and fail to challenge the views of consultees. The process of loading documents and plans on to the Portal was extremely cumbersome. Unlike Building Standards where It was possible to make a phone call to an officer who would endeavour to resolve an issue, that type of relationship was not possiblo with planning officers.”

Reflecting on the comments, Mr McKinnon noted: “In Jersey, personal contacts and relationships matter; it's the Jersey way. That should not be interpreted as a critical or pejorative comment. More and more organisations operate in a way whereby systems and processes take precedence over speaking to people at a front desk, over the phone or on site. It can be quite a challenge, not least in the age of social media, to secure effective inter-personal working relationships as these might be interpreted by some as improper or lacking impartiality. It is, however, this personal approach that has to be fostered in Jersey and the professionalism of staff can be relied on to achieve this.”

The report recognised the previous Ministerial pledge to take action on the issues, and that some progress had been made so far, but stressed the importance of culture change – both within the department and for those interacting with Planning.

Mr McKinnon said that the development if a Customer Service Charter would be an “important” step towards developing a “more personal and responsive service”, as would the development of an awards scheme alongside the Jersey Architectural Commission.

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