THE American economist Thomas Sowell wrote,”You will never understand bureaucracies until you understand that for bureaucrats procedure is everything and outcomes are nothing,”and nowhere has that been more evident than in Monmouthshire County Council’s planning committee this month.

After years which have seen the worse flooding in living memory, one Pandy couple took came up with a unique plan to protect their family from the river waters which have flooded their home three times in just over a year leaving their children traumatised and their future at risk in their now, presumably less than easy to sell home.

Already £60,000 poorer for their attempts to prevent the flood waters surging through their property and bringing all their experience as civil engineers to bear, they came up with a plan to extend their three storey home, abandon the flood prone ground floor and move their living area upstairs.

They hoped this would give them some relief and protect their three young children from the nightmare of having to leave their home in the dead of night, being carried through four foot of stinking, dirty water leaving their treasured toys and belongings behind them.

Their local county councillor agreed with the plan; their community council agreed with the plan; 40 of their neighbours took time to pen letters saying they agreed with the plan but Monmouthshire County Council’s planning officers in their great wisdom felt the extension was ‘incongruous’ and might be detrimental to the character and appearance of the house.

This comes of course from an authority which has no qualms about supporting a footbridge which to coin a royal phrase, is set to be a ‘monstrous carbuncle’ on the face of the castle meadows!

Heaven forfend that the ‘confused design’ oft his extension should be ‘out of context’ in the Pandy countryside where those living around it value the peace of mind and security of a young family above an excess of cladding!

I’m in no way advocating uncontrolled development in our countryside but what have we become if we value rules over compassion and tick boxes are more important than the wellbeing of terrified children.

I can rant - but to give MCC its due, planning committee members did express sympathy with the family and chairman Cllr Phil Murphy confirmed they would be able to put in an amended planning application without having to pay for the privilege , which I’m sure will come as a great relief when the family is next sweeping muddy river water out of their kitchen while their children retrieve yet another ruined Teddy Bear from the sewage which undoubtedly makes up at least some of the deposit.

Surely there are some cases where the health and wellbeing of local people should result in a common sense decision showing just a modicum of basic humanity or have we really become a society where ‘jobsworths’ hold sway, the ‘rules is rules’ mentality has the loudest voice and we risk vanishing into a bureaucratic black hole where logic goes to die.