The Humble Petition of residents of Isham, Northamptonshire and the surrounding area,
Sheweth,
That the Petitioners believe that the proposed planning application for the logistics development site known as symmetry park, outside, but adjacent to the village of Isham—planning application—KET/2016/0606 is unacceptable, because it is twice the size of Isham, will very significantly increase the volume of traffic going through the village, increase noise, air and light pollution to unacceptable levels and is opposed by the vast majority of local residents.
Wherefore your Petitioners pray that your Honourable House urges the Department for Communities and Local Government to encourage the Borough Council of Kettering to reject the current planning application.
And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray, &c.—[Presented by Mr Peter Bone, Official Report, 2 November 2016; Vol. 616, c. 1006.]
[P001972]
Observations from the Minister for Housing and Planning (Gavin Barwell); received on 23 November 2016:
Kettering Borough Council is responsible for the day to day planning of its area. The Government’s policy is not to interfere with the jurisdiction of a local planning authority unless it is necessary to do so. This is because local authority Councillors are elected to represent the views of local people and, in the main, it is these Councillors who are in the best position to decide whether a development should go ahead. In determining a planning application the local planning authority are required to have regard to all material considerations including the development plan, national policies and views expressed by third parties. It is, of course, for local planning authorities to provide whatever justification that may be appropriate to give for their decisions and procedures.
Officials have been in contact with planning officers at Kettering Borough Council. If the Council is minded to approve the planning application the Secretary of State will carefully consider this case against call-in policy, as set out in the written ministerial statement by the hon. Member for Grantham and Stamford (Nick Boles) on 26 October 2012. The policy makes it clear that the power to call in a planning application will be used only very selectively. The Government are committed to giving more power to councils and communities to make their own decisions on planning issues, and believe planning decisions should be made at the local level wherever possible.