This is from the Bristol Evening Post web site today and a really good idea because so much happens that we are not informed of or made aware of in our local community.
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WEBSITE REVEALS PLANNING REQUESTS
BY RUPERT JANISCH R.JANISCH
10:40 - 12 October 2007
A website giving people the chance to see what developments are planned for their area has been launched by a Bristol man.
Previously, people had to know the street name where an application had been proposed in order to use websites such as UKPlanning or the city council site.
But Sneyd Park resident David Wedge, 36, has set up his own website, www.planningfinder.co.uk where people can enter their postcode and find out all current applications near their homes.
Mr Wedge, a product development manager, said he had the idea after realising the lack of notice local authorities need to give when planning applications are lodged.
The Evening Post has published several stories in previous years of residents who only discovered an application had been submitted after a chance encounter with a notice on a nearby lamppost.
Mr Wedge, who co-founded the website with friend Tom Busby, said: "The service came about when I began to notice just how many Evening Post articles concerned planning issues."
A waste-recycling centre had opened near a residential area without anyone living nearby being told about it."
The local council apologised for not having sent consultation letters and promised to put things right, but this was not before a great deal of misery had been caused to many local residents.
"This type of mistake happens around the country, and the consequences of such errors can be grave for those people caught up in them."
People using the website can enter their postcode and find all current applications within a 400-metre, half-mile or mile radius.
The website works by searching for applications on local authority websites and then identifying which ones are close to the user.
Mr Wedge said: "The Planning Finder service is designed to improve the scrutiny given to planning applications in general and currently covers more than 100 councils across the country - full national coverage is planned.
"We envisage our website automatically drawing the attention of the right expert in the council to applications as they come in, be it one which should be seen by the pollution control department, nature conservation officers or whoever."
Instead of providing a postcode they would register the kinds of application they wish to see. The website is intended as a tool to benefit all in the community, whether residents, developers or government officials, by helping make planning information far more visible."
The free website also includes newspaper articles on planning issues from around the country and a variety of case studies.
Web Link: http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=145365&command=displayContent&sourceNode=145191&c..18649972&folderPk=83726&pNodeId=144912
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