Another Erratic Planning Decision

Back in March, Brent's Planning Committee decided it wanted to refuse the Planning permission for a new development on Queens Parade in Willesden for more student housing, a position consistent with previous decisions made in the Willesden High Road area.  Normally that would be that, but for some reason this has been recorded as a "minded to" decision rather than the outright rejection that I reported before.  This is very odd as previously refusals have tended to be done on the night and noted; only granting permission against officers recommendation has led to this kind of pause.  The reason being that granting has no appeal whereas a refusal can always be appealed through the Planning Inspector.

This is another way in which Planning in Brent appears to become increasingly peculiar during Cllr Muhammed Butt's leadership.

It was followed by another deferral in April.   Previously officer practice was to discourage deferrals without good reason as they stopped the Council meeting its targets for timely resolution of planning applications and therefore damaged the Council's reputation.