The Petition of people living around the St. Mary's Church Conservation Area,

Declares that we the residents of Benfleet and surrounding areas object to the proposed demolition of the parade of shops opposite the historic St. Mary’s Church, in High Road, Benfleet to make way for a new block of four shops with five one bed and eight two bed flats in a two storey development above the shops with underground parking, on the grounds that the access is unacceptable, there are insufficient parking arrangements, particularly for visitors to those new properties and shops, and consequently the shops and public will suffer, because the bulk of the proposed building would be unacceptably detrimental to the street scene in this sensitive position around the Conservation Area and because this would put unacceptable additional stress on the existing infrastructure at a sensitive point on the highway and for many other valid planning reasons as set out by the Member of Parliament and the previous Council members for the ward, in their objections to the earlier applications which were rejected.

The Petitioners therefore call on the House of Commons to implore the Government to impress upon Castle Point Borough Council, and three Boyce Ward councillors in particular, the imperative that this application is decided by members rather than unelected unaccountable officers, and the need to reject the application on behalf of all residents of Castle Point who are sick to the back teeth of the attempts to overdevelop their community.

And the Petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Bob Spink, Official Report, 25 June 2007; Vol. 462, c. 134 .] [P000041]

Observation from the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government:

The application to Castle Point Borough Council is in respect of the demolition of existing retail/residential units and construction of 8 x two bed and 5 x one bed flats and I retail units with underground parking. The application was considered at Castle Point Borough Council’s Planning Committee on 31 July 2007. The committee resolved that the application be granted conditional approval.

Parliament has entrusted local authorities with responsibility for development control in their areas. It is for them to decide, with particular regard to the provisions of the County Structure and Local Plans, any relevant views expressed by neighbouring occupiers, local residents and other third parties (although they are not bound to accept those views) and any other relevant material considerations which fairly and reasonably relate to the application concerned, whether or not a proposal should be given planning permission. The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government intervenes in this responsibility only in the most exceptional circumstances and then only when issues of national or regional importance are involved. To do so more often would undermine the responsibility given to local planning authorities.

Once planning permission has been given for a particular development, the Secretary of State has no power to intervene. The only recourse a third party would have would be to challenge the decision to grant planning permission in the High Court.