Families hit with planning charges 'need full review'

EVERY householder stung by Waverley Borough Council's surprise planning charges should be offered a full review with any repayments funded by the authority's hoarded interest.

- By CHRIS CAULFIELD Local democracy reporter

That was one of five key recommendations by the council's overview and scrutiny committee as it examined historic issues of residents hit with large community infrastructure levies, traditionally imposed on large-scale developers.

Towards the end of last year it emerged residents had been given hefty and unexpected planning fees - with reports some had to sell their homes to avoid serious court action.

The council has since carried out a preliminary review and claimed fees had been levied correctly, later saying it would only return money in cases where it had made the error.

Mistakes made by either the home owners or their agents could not be considered for rebate.

The council said its hands were tied as the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) charges are controlled by government rules and has written to ministers calling on this to be changed.

Cllr George Hesse (Farnham Residents: Farnham Castle) told the June 23 meeting: "Each case is different but they all have one thing in common; large charges, fines and threats of court action are causing these householders a huge amount of stress and worry.