Martin Heswell sits in what was once the Environmental Protection Department at Brackley District Council, a title still visible on the door despite the department now consisting entirely of him, a filing cabinet, and a printer that has been out of cyan since February. He has agreed to discuss his role, though he needs to keep it brief because he has forty-three planning applications to review by Thursday and the developers’ lawyers tend to get upset if he misses deadlines.
“The process is quite streamlined now,” Heswell explains, gesturing to his screen where an application for a retail park on what is currently a site of special scientific interest sits awaiting his input. “I open the ecological survey, which was conducted by a consultancy that does ninety percent of its work for the developer, and I read about how the loss of habitat will be offset by three bird boxes and some wildflower seeds in the car park verges. Then I write that this is inadequate. Then I attend a planning meeting where someone mentions the jobs it will create, and then it gets approved.”
Heswell has been in post for nineteen years. When he started, the department had six people. Now it has him, working four days a week after the council asked if he would mind taking a twenty percent pay cut or redundancy. He chose the former, reasoning that at least this way he can continue to maintain what he calls “a comprehensive record of defeat.”
His typical day involves reviewing applications, writing objections that he knows will be ignored, and attending meetings where his technical expertise on protected species is weighed carefully against a developer’s PowerPoint presentation about economic growth. “I once spent forty-five minutes explaining why you cannot simply relocate a badger sett by putting up signs directing them to a new location,” he says. “The application was approved with a condition that signs be erected.”
The administrative burden has increased significantly since the department shrank. “I used to conduct site visits, speak to local wildlife groups, actually assess whether the mitigation measures might work,” Heswell notes. “Now I have nineteen minutes per application if I am to meet my targets, which include responding to all developer queries within twenty-four hours but not actually saying anything that might slow down the process.”
He pulls up a spreadsheet tracking his recommendations over the past three years. Of two hundred and seventy-three applications where he advised refusal or significant modification on environmental grounds, seven were refused. Six of those were overturned on appeal. “The seventh was withdrawn because they found asbestos,” he says. “Nothing to do with me really.”
Jennifer Colquhoun, the council’s Head of Growth and Prosperity, a title created in 2019 when they abolished Head of Planning, maintains that environmental concerns are taken seriously. “Martin’s input is invaluable and we always give full consideration to his reports before approving applications in line with our pro-growth agenda,” she said. “We have actually increased his hours, he is now contracted for four days rather than the three we initially proposed.”
Heswell will spend this afternoon writing a report explaining why building on a flood plain might cause flooding. He expects it will take him until six. The planning committee meets at seven.
