Bill, Anthony and I met with Fiona Hunter from Planning at NYC on Thursday.
Fiona clarified the planning department structure and they currently have 2 vacancies within the Richmondshire area. They are working on having one planning system for all areas under the unitary authority however this could take up to 5 years to complete.
She explained that they are limited within their principles when considering planning applications. They do consider and create a report based on all observations from the Parish Council and on the planning portal. All feedback from the report is uploaded to the planning portal for all to view. This is where we should be looking for feedback on the observations/comments raised for consideration. None of us had heard of this and had no no idea this was available to view.
Fiona did say that the last 2 applications for Western House Business Parks were rejected by the planning officer however were overturned by the planning committee and granted. She couldn't answer Bill's questions - When does a Business Parks become an Industrial Park? They will only comment on current applications.
Anthony asked about staff working hours and raised how it's very difficult to speak with the planning officers. All officers now work during office hours of 8am - 6pm. Fiona said that the structure has changed and it seems that the days of having a chat with planning officers have gone. The fees for planning applications are used to fund the department. The department is not funded by taxpayers money.
Fiona had said that historically the county council paid the least amount in salary however they are now offering a more attractive package with competitive salaries and as a unitary authority there is more scope for staff. Anthony did say that it is concerning that there is not a national rate for planning officers and other counties may offer more and poach staff.
We asked about applicants who have not met the stipulations of the granted application. Fiona said that there is now an enforcement team who handle this and all issues would be sent directly to them.
After you left Anthony Bill raised issues on the Western House Business Park and the School roof applications.
Bill shared the VAS stats for October. Fiona acknowledged the concerns with the increase in vehicles travelling through the village and the not fit for purpose water and sewage infrastructure. She suggested that the Parish Council include the VAS data as evidence/documentation with the relevant application observations or dates of flooding taking place. However she did say the increase in traffic wouldn't be considered severe and wouldn't be sufficient for an application to be rejected.
Fiona said she wouldn't comment on individual applications and this would need to be covered in a separate meeting. She asked for 20 working days notice to discuss applications.
She ended the meeting by saying the process will not change and all information/observations/issues shared will be on the portal. The planning officers will include all of this in their report for consideration. Once the application has been considered the feedback from the report and the outcome will be shared on the portal.
It is down to the Parish Council if they feel it is worth sharing information for consideration. My take from it was that the Parish Councils need to decide on what they would like to do? She did mention a target of 90% (i think) of applications needing to be passed. If the Council falls below this they need to give an explanation to the government as to why it's less. Fiona did say that planning doesn't have the powers that people think they do.
She also said that rural areas may have developments happening around them as this government strategy. She suggested signing up to alerts on the planning portal to keep updated on what could be happening in our area. As rural areas will see an increase in development. She did suggest that the communities could look at what they would like should a development take place? Perhaps consider how it could benefit the community? Could this be used to leverage new amenities or improve the infrastructure.
Kind regards
Jenny
Jenny Pears
Clerk to Melsonby Parish Council
Published: 10/12/2025 Published by: Stanwick St John Parish Council
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