Haringey Liberal Democrats have called for proper consultation on planning decisions after the Council admitted that it does not advertise planning applications to all residents.

The admission came in an answer to a written question from Liberal Democrat Cllr Ross Laird. The Council admitted to only advertising in the Haringey Advertiser newspaper, which is not distributed to all residents in the borough.

Cllr Laird commented:

“This is postcode planning. If you happen to live in a street where the Haringey Advertiser is not delivered, you may never know that there is a major planning application in the neighbouring street.

“Time and again we receive complaints from local residents that they have not been consulted by the planning department, or the consultation letters have not been widely distributed. The fact that Haringey skimps on the cost of advertising in more than one paper demonstrates that they are not prepared to invest in effective consultation.”