A RADICAL overhaul in how the council deals with home extension applications could lead to some residents being 'bullied' into getting extensions they don't want or facing long appeals.

The claim comes from a planning agent who said Cheshire West and Chester had taken the decision to change how it deals with applications due to long backlogs in caseloads.

Whereas in the past the council may have worked with applicants to ensure their plans conformed with its planning regulations, the agent claimed the council would now simply judge each application strictly on whether it conformed to its local plan - the strategic document which protects residents and the environment from bad development.  

The agent, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed applications for house extensions are meant to take 12 weeks but alleged the council is currently working to a 'six to eight-month' timescale.

The agent said: “Homeowners will now have two choices, either to be bullied into building an extension that they don’t want or instead to appeal a refusal and hope that the decision is overturned.

“Planning appeals are submitted to the Planning Inspectorate, who judge whether or not the council have refused an application for valid reasons – if not, then a refusal is overturned.”

An email to agents seen by the LDRS said the department had tried to experiment with different ways of working and recruit more staff, but had experienced issues with sickness and retention, while the number of new applications remained high.

It said compliant applications would be approved, non-compliant ones would be rejected, and those that needed small changes would still be eligible to receive advice from planning officers, but this would only happen once.

A council spokesman said it had a ‘legal duty’ to determine applications in line with its local plan.

He added: “We already approve more than 90 per cent of planning applications. However, the process of improving poor applications so that they meet the required standard is an unnecessary drain on public resources.

“When poor quality applications are submitted which fail to follow the local plan guidance, planning officers must choose whether to refuse them or spend time fixing them, which costs time and money and slows down the system for everyone.”

He added: “We encourage applicants to submit better applications so that the quality of the building work improves, more good schemes can be approved and the system runs quicker.”

A Planning Inspectorate spokesman said it was down to individual councils to decide how they resourced their planning departments and the level of service they could provide their customers.

But he added: “It is preferable for decisions to be made locally. Where applications are refused, we encourage applicants and councils to reach agreement on an alternative proposal before considering an appeal. As well as keeping the decision locally, this may be the fastest way to get a permission."