THE Planning Resource magazine dated May 23 2014 contained comments made by the Hon Ms Justice Lang QC which referred to Forest of Dean District Council planning and its apparent inability (and I quote) “to apply planning law and policy correctly.”

With that very much in mind and with a vast array of other concerns relating to planning within the Forest of Dean I tabled a motion at last Thursday’s full council meeting calling for the setting up of a development control working group to examine working practices relating to all aspects of planning and (thanks to the positivity and experience of Cllr Bruce Hogan) the addition of development control.

Importantly the motion contained the request that the Local Government Association provides assistance for the review through a peer member and officer with expertise in planning – I was extremely mindful that the last thing we need is an in-house, inward looking self-protection exercise.

The motion was passed unanimously and to that end I would like to sincerely thank all of my fellow Forest of Dean District Council members.

There was a very late intervention from an officer to try and restrict debate, but thankfully commonsense and, importantly, democracy prevailed.

The five key words that I want the review to be based on are: openness, transparency, competence, consistency and efficiency.

The motion also contained the request that once the review begins, anyone who wants to give evidence can, confidentially if they like so that no one feels inhibited.

Parish and town councils should be vital in this process. 

I would expect Forest of Dean District Council now that it has a clear, democratic mandate to promulgate the review comprehensively.

From the feedback that I have had since Thursday I believe that this is a job well done but now the real positive improvement work must begin.

– Cllr Alan Preest (UKIP), Forest of Dean District Council, Lydney North.