Concern Rochdale Council is ‘suppressing planning objections’

Rochdale Borough Council

Concern has been raised that Rochdale Borough Council has been ‘supressing planning objections’ by counting multiple objections from under one roof as just one household.

Local resident, Kevin Shackell, commented: “The council only count the objections as one household, even if three object, thus giving low numbers.”

However, Rochdale Borough Council has confirmed their approach is similar to other councils.

Mark Robinson, Assistant Director of Planning and Development at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “The council welcomes representations on all planning applications to ensure views are heard and taken into account.

“Some planning reports refer to the number of comments received from households rather than individual comments, and on some occasions there may be more than one response from each household.

“Where an application is being reported to a planning committee, we are going to recommend that officers refer to the total number of responses received. In addition, all planning applications are listed on our website and we want to hear people’s views whether supporting or opposing an application. All comments received are available to be viewed online.

“Due to the number received, it is not possible to include each individual comment in the reports, but the content is summarised in the reports, which are used to form a recommendation on any application.”