Planning Authorities - Garlic Grumbles

I make no apology for my dislike of planning authorities. I have had to deal with several, and I always get the feeling that they have to be dragged kicking and screaming to the point where they agree to your planning proposals.

So I should not have been surprised, indeed I was not, when Paul announced that he had just heard that the planners were recommending that the College plans were refused! Having had  a nice peace Sunday this news came out of the blue.

We were both seated on deck chairs looking at the moon at the time. The lights had been out in the whole district, and so the place with the most illumination was the front verandah. I nearly went up like a rocket!

So Paul, what is the reason they are recommending refusal. Oh they want the building to be 2 storeys, and not one. Why is that? Because the City plan says that all buildings in that area should be 2 storeys. But all the other schools and houses along there are one storey, and all the schools and colleges we have seen in the city are one storey. Yes - but the City Plan says that in the future - and that is now - that 2 storeys is it!.

But Paul, when we discussed this with the planners in July, they said one storey would be ok. Yes but they have changed this. So 4 months of plans appeared to be up the proverbial!! And we do not have the money for 2 storeys.

In true Macfarlane style, I ranted internally for a while, and then sent a text off to McAdam and Ginger - requesting an squadron of prayers. Txts came back that these had been actioned and the response was expected imminently.

Off I went to my room, preparing the powerpoint, and formulating a true Macfarlane robust response. I remember my last action with a planning authority, when they recommended refusal of our medical practice. As you can see I do not refusal well - and the centre was built against planning advice since the politicians saw common sense!

So off we went today and had a good chat with the planning team. Well at least we got to see them quickly. They were a nice enough bunch, and gave us a good ear. The problem is that they have set out a plan for the city which has very strict lines of demarcation and are inflexible. The only way you get anywhere is by giving them hard evidence well worked out and which their boss can use when his/or her hide is on the line.

So the problem is that they expect land to be a premium in the future, because they think they are going to have a city of skyscrapers, and therefore all future buildings should have a low footprint, and be tall.

I heard that one local embassy is still in dispute with them because they only built 2 storeys instead of 7! Does not give me grounds for optimism. But the prayer squadron are fast arriving so we shall see what happens when a higher power gets to work.

So tomorrow I have to form a very strong arguement to counter - will make for an interesting couple of hours, and then a long wait.

If the answer is no, then it could be an early flight back in the Lysander. More likely we will have to head upwards in the chain of command - President Kagame here we come?

Now where was the Rwandan High Commissioners email address that he gave me last month?