Last night I did something I’ve never done before – speak at Walsall’s Planning Committee. As my day-job involves planning I am prohibited from sitting on the Planning Committee, so it was a new experience for me when I spoke there on behalf of someone in my ward.

It wouldn’t be right for me to go into the full details of the case which are personal to the applicant, but it involved trying to persuade the Planning Committee to go against an officer’s recommendation and approve an application for an extension. The reason for the extension was to allow parents to better look after their disabled child.

My argument was that officers were best qualified when it came to interpreting planning policy, but our duty as councillors was to consider the human consequences of planning decisions such as this.

Thankfully, common sense and compassion triumphed and the application was approved – mostly I have to say because of the very moving contribution from the disabled child’s mother.

I hope the Planning Committee continues to ‘have a heart’ when considering applications in the future, and doesn’t fall into the trap of rigidly enforcing planning policy as it has done in the very recent past.