aimed at bringing in around £250,000 a year to Sefton Council.
That’s what local Lib Dem councillors are saying having found out more details about the impact of the controversial plan.
At last Thursday’s Council meeting, Labour pushed through their proposal calling for Pre-Application Advice to be made compulsory. Currently Sefton Council charges householders £100 to £175 for such advice, based on a hefty hourly rate of £74.40.
Lib Dem deputy group leader, Cllr Daniel Lewis was one of those who spoke out against the Labour proposal last week. He says that only around 7% of the two thousand or so planning applications submitted to Sefton Council each year currently go for Pre-Application Advice.
“These are mainly the larger ones,” says Cllr Lewis. “What that means is that around 1800 householders and other applicants currently decide not to pay Sefton Council an extra £100 to £175 on top of the normal planning fee for Pre-Application Advice. They are doing mostly small scale domestic extensions so see no reason to request it.”
“So doing the maths, if Labour get their way and the rules are changed then they could easily be talking about an extra £250,000 coming in to the Council every year by way of this planning stealth tax. No wonder they are so keen on it.”
“People shouldn’t be forced to pay for this advice if they don’t want it. Residents submitting planning applications for domestic extensions are already charged a planning fee of £206. This ill-thought out Labour idea would pile on at least half as much again. Rather than £206 it would rise to £306 and as much as £381 if a meeting is requested. It’s simply a disgrace.”
Full details of the Labour proposal are available at http://modgov.sefton.gov.uk/moderngov/documents/s81172/2.3AMENDEDCllr%20McKinley%20National%20Policy%20Planning%20Framework.pdf
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