Councillor resigns and blasts pub’s ‘flawed’ planning process
Cllr Jeremy Brignell-Thorp hasn’t held back in his criticism of Powys County Council’s Planning Department after failing in his bid for the process of converting The Cottage into residential to be scrutinised.
The Green Party representative for Forden and Montgomery claims that the planning officer presented incorrect information to the planning committee, and that the pub was marketed at an inflated price which put off any interest in taking it on as a public house, paving the way for it to have a change of use to residential.
Cllr Brignell-Thorp wants his full statement published on MyWelshpool and MyNewtown, and says he has overwhelming support from Montgomery residents who are demanding answers.
He has also been supported by Montgomeryshire Member of the Senedd, Russell George, who said “over many years, I have been presented with evidence time and time again that shows errors, inaccuracies and questionable decision making from the Powys Planning Service”.
But Powys County Council said that they “satisfied that the issues have been thoroughly and independently examined”.
Please see below the three statements issued by Cllr Brignell-Thorp, Mr George and Powys County Council.
PICTURE: Councillor Jeremy Brignell-Thorp (right) with residents of Montgomery that had been regulars at The Cottage.
Public Statement by Cllr Jeremy Brignell-Thorp:
“I am compelled to issue this statement due to concerns I have regarding the processing of a planning application in my ward and the manner in which information was presented to the planning committee.
I wished that there was no need to raise these matters in this public way but alternative avenues have been exhausted without a satisfactory resolution.
As many will be aware, I have not been satisfied with the manner in which a change of use planning application was resolved in relation to The Cottage, Montgomery, from the pub that we had hoped would continue to serve the community, to residential use (which is more valuable as a commodity to its owner).
I have raised numerous complaints about my concerns and two investigations were ultimately undertaken by the council. The investigation’s reports did not uphold my complaints but I believe that the investigations themselves were flawed and so, to address this issue, I requested that the council form a group of elected councillors (both of the cabinet and the planning committee) to scrutinise and review the reports. This request has been refused. You may draw your own inferences as to why this may be.
I had many concerns with the process but two of the major ones may be summarised as follows:
- I believe that the planning officer presented incorrect information to the planning committee. Whilst this was accepted in the report, it was dismissed as being irrelevant. No effort was made to discover how this information had come to be wrongly presented to the committee. One such example was that the committee was informed that The Cottage had been vacant for a couple of years. This is not true and I was not permitted to speak at the planning committee meeting so as to inform the committee that this was not true.
- The Local Development Plan requires that if a public house is to be changed to a residence then this will only be permitted if attempts to market the premises as a public house for more than six months had been unsuccessful. The Cottage had been bought in September 2021 for £237,000 but had been placed on the market for £400,000. Therefore, the applicant persuaded the committee that he was not able to sell The Cottage as a pub as there was insufficient interest. It is clear that if the property was placed on the market at a higher value than was commercially viable, that the premises would not be sold at this price. It is then easy for an applicant to come to the committee and say that it had been marketed for six months but not sold. I found the supposed increase surprising and so arranged for a further valuation which valued the premises at £265,000. With this information in mind, I am still to understand how the applicant’s valuation was accepted so readily.
I requested that a group of elected councillors be formed to assess, scrutinise and review the decisions made in this matter as there are clearly unanswered questions as to why certain issues were not taken into account and other factors, too readily in my view, dismissed.
If senior officers and leaders have confidence in the process that was undertaken here, then one would expect that they would welcome the opportunity to demonstrate that their systems and complaint procedures were robust and fair. However, they have not taken that opportunity and their motivations in refusing to do so are not, in my opinion, justified.
I was fortunate enough to be elected as councillor for Montgomery and Forden in 2022 with one of my primary motivations to press for more urgent action on the climate emergency. However, what I found in the council’s planning function has left me horrified and saddened.
I stress that my disappointment is limited to the Planning Department, I acknowledge that all other departments and councillors (of whatever party) serve their communities to the best of their abilities even when faced with dwindling resources.
I further add that there are, in my view, many good people within the Planning Department and that I have no complaint with the planning committee itself. However, I cannot say that Planning’s processes are transparent nor subject to sufficient democratic scrutiny as should be expected.
To be clear, my primary request, and the one that has been refused and the reason why I am publishing this letter, is that I am not happy with the way that a serious complaint that I filed has been addressed, and that my request for the investigation to be scrutinised by elected councillors has been refused.
I am further using this statement to resign from my role of cabinet assistant to the climate emergency.
I can no longer support this administration as I no longer believe they have sufficient respect for truth and transparency. Acting to resolve the climate emergency is of vital importance but this can only be achieved through democratic processes which adhere to the principles of truth, integrity and transparency and I do not believe that this administration holds these principles in as high a regard as they should.”
Statement by Russell George MS
“The concerns which Cllr Brignell-Thorp has raised, are sadly not surprising to me. Over many years, I have been presented with evidence time and time again that shows errors, inaccuracies and questionable decision making from the Powys Planning Service.
“In my view there remains inconsistencies and planning officers not scrutinising applications effectively, timely or objectively.
“There is a breakdown in trust and poor decision-making. There needs to be a fundamental cultural change within the Planning Department.”
In response, the Leader of Powys County Council, Cllr Jake Berriman said:
“We acknowledge that Cllr Brignell Thorp has expressed concerns about the way a planning application in his ward was processed. We also recognise his decision to step down from his role as Cabinet Assistant.
“It is important to make clear that the concerns raised by Cllr Brignell Thorp has been fully considered through all stages available under the council’s complaints procedure, including an external independent review.
“We appreciate that Cllr Brignell Thorp remains dissatisfied with the outcome, but the council is satisfied that the issues have been thoroughly and independently examined. We remain committed to transparency, continuous improvement, and maintaining public confidence in our planning processes.”
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