We recently spent an enjoyable morning with Tom Ross leader of Trafford Council.
Discussing all things Town Planning we were interested to hear first hand Trafford Council’s plan for future homes and economic growth and in particular the opportunities for built environment professionals to support the Council in delivering this.
An interesting Q&A session followed where Councillor Ross was non-committal in his response to a question asking whether Trafford would ring-fence the imminent increase in planning fees to ensure a better service was delivered to applicants.
The non ring-fencing of fees by the Government has been heavily criticised in recent weeks with many commentators skeptical that planning departments are likely to see any benefit from the increase as more Council’s face financial difficulties and pressure on essential services.
It was also interesting to hear attendees probe the inherent inflexibility of Trafford’s newly adopted Design Code which whilst delivering widely acceptable homogenized development does not come without concerns. In particular the Design Code was criticized for its difficulty to enable organic growth and placemaking in the Borough.
As a working document we look forward to seeing how this consultation with the industry in Manchester will inform future updates.
