Stress levels were rightly running high as frustrated residents received notifications relating to controversial planning applications that had already been refused. One such application was the recent proposal from developer Gladman for one hundred and thirty new homes on the edge of Paulton, amongst a long list of other refused applications. Furious residents took to social media to air their frustrations, stating: “It says the status is New Application…Please tell me this isn’t happening again?” and “Looks like they’re at it again!”, whilst another added “Just clear off Gladman.”

While some residents responded angrily, others were just simply confused by the emails they received, with one person explaining: “I was just as confused. I can only assume that Gladman’s have re-applied. However, I can’t understand why plans re-submitted, without any alterations or changes, have been accepted.”

However, it wasn’t just local residents getting frustrated, Paulton’s Councillor Grant Johnson was away for a stag weekend when he was receiving multiple messages from residents asking for an explanation. He had stated on his Facebook page that he was “signing-off for the weekend.” However, when the fiasco was unfolding he explained that he “couldn’t help himself”, whilst enjoying the sun in Brighton. He said: “I do try and switch off when I’m away on holiday, but when your mobile is always on you, and pinging away, it’s hard to ignore something you just know isn’t right. I just couldn’t help myself.

“The frustrating thing was that I was told the issue had been fixed and then I received a notification myself on Monday evening. Planning is a stressful process for lots of people, with some having little faith in it already. So, to see notifications relating to controversial applications state that they are a ‘New Application’ only adds to those stress levels, which I’m sure we could all do without.

“In future it would be good to see these issues added to the Council’s website and social media platforms when they are aware of it, so I will be making these suggestions to B&NES Council. Hopefully this disruption will be short lived.” Grant Johnson