Development Intent
AtlasWestminsterOfficersAlexander De
Case officer · Westminster Planning

Alexander De.

Last recorded decision Mar 2023 — no decisions in this record since

A case officer at Westminster with an approval rate of 80% across 81 decided planning applications, spanning 15 wards.[1] Decision speed and appeal performance publish when decision notices are ingested.

Planning officer81 decisions80% approvalSave
Westminster · ward map
Approval rate — by ward
Lower ~68%
Higher ~90%
ShowingAll years · subscriber →across all years on record — a period re-scopes the headline figures and the trend
At a glanceEach metric links to the investigation behind it
All investigations →
81
Applications
2021–23
Approval rate over time — tougher or softer 🔒Dashed line = London average
avg 81%100%202189%202267%2023
Approval-rate trend is subscriber dataSubscribe to see the trend →
What they decide — by application type
How they compareVersus peers
Approval rate80% · 65th of 76
higher is betterdashed = London avg
Decision time · publishes with decision notices
in development
Appeal overturn · publishes with decision notices
in development
How this officer decides — from their own reports78 officer reports parsed
3%
Approves despite concerns
of approvals record a documented reservation
3%
Negotiated approvals
approvals mentioning revisions/amendments
0%
"On balance" reports
reports using explicit balancing language
76%
Bespoke reasoning
of report text written for the case, not recited
What they write about — vs Westminster's average officer

Topic mentions per 1,000 words of their own report text (boilerplate stripped), indexed against all parsed Westminster reports. Attention, not stance.

Character & heritage
2.19× borough avg
Materials & detailing
2.1× borough avg
Energy & sustainability
1.29× borough avg
Outlook & amenity
0.34× borough avg

Mark = borough average (1×). Bar capped at 2×.

How they reason — coded from their reports

De's Mayfair/Bayswater listed-building casework is precise about distinguishing already non-historic fixtures (entrance lamps, previously-replaced window frames) as free to remove without harm, while requiring photographic archive evidence (London Picture Archive) to test whether a currently-installed replacement window design (with 'horns' below the meeting rail) actually matches the historic original before accepting it retrospectively. He is comfortable phasing large multi-window replacement schemes across time except where piecemeal replacement of a matched glazing pattern (margin-light windows) would create visual discord, requiring those specific windows to be done as a single phase.

Observable habits

· requires archival photographic evidence (London Picture Archive) to test whether a currently-installed replacement window's specific detail (e.g. 'horns' on the sash) actually matches the historic original before accepting it

· identifies already non-historic fixtures (entrance lamps, previously replaced frames) as free to remove without harm, distinct from genuinely original fabric

· permits phased replacement of a large window scheme across time, except for a specific MATCHED glazing pattern (margin lights) where piecemeal replacement would create visual discord, requiring those windows as a single phase

What their reports consistently look for

· what this officer's reports consistently look for: archival photographic evidence of a window's original historic detail before accepting a retrospective replacement matches it

· what this officer's reports consistently look for: whether a fixture is already non-historic (previously replaced) and therefore free to remove without harm

· what this officer's reports consistently look for: whether a specific matched glazing pattern requires single-phase replacement to avoid visual discord from piecemeal work

Assigned Alexander De on a live case?What they pay attention to, how they reason, and what their reports consistently look for — so you can address it before they raise it.Subscribe to unlock →
In their own words

Photographic evidence available (London Picture Archive) shows that the windows removed were not historic. The replaced windows were traditional painted timber sashes with slender glazing bars and a putty beading, but were installed onwards of 1974

22/00190/FULL

it is proposed that for the first floor windows on Devonshire Street and Portland Place; and the second floor on Portland Place a condition is imposed, requiring that these windows must be done as a single phase of works

21/08231/FULL

Measured from 78 published Westminster officer reports written by this officer, with recited policy boilerplate stripped before any counting. These describe how this officer works and writes — they are not outcome predictions. Every quote is from a named public report.

Policy playbook — what this officer cites[3]

The policies this officer cites most in their own reports — times cited across 78 parsed reports. Whether refusals citing each survive appeal isn't traced per policy yet.

D8
3 times cited
T2
3 times cited
KBR1
1 times cited
Which policies this officer leans on is subscriber intelligenceSubscribe to unlock →
Decisions by ward

Where this officer's caseload concentrates, 2021–23.[1] Click the map above to focus this page on a ward, or a row to open the ward.

Recent applications
Address
Reference
Type
Outcome
Date
22/08508/FULL
Full Planning Permission Application
Approved
2023-05-02
22/04772/FULL
Full Planning Permission Application
Refused
2023-04-28
22/08508/FULL
Full Planning Permission Application
Approved
2023-05-02
22/04772/FULL
Full Planning Permission Application
Refused
2023-04-28
Full application history locked
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Consultants approved most— subscriber data
1. Murray Birrell Ltd
2. Gerald Eve
3. JD Clayton Ltd
4. Peek Architecture Ltd
At a glance
OfficerAlexander De
RolePlanning officer
Experience
Applications81 (2021–23)
Approval rate80%
London approval avg81%
Who decides here
GovernmentMayor of LondonCouncilCommitteeOfficersDecisionsApplicantsInspectorate
Related investigations
When committees overrule officers like this one →
How often members depart from officer recommendations, and how those overrides fare at appeal.
How much gets decided without a committee →
The delegated share by borough and officer — where the real power over decisions sits.
Sources & method
  1. [1]Applications decided, approval rate, per-year trend and ward breakdown — London Borough of Westminster planning register and published decision notices, 2021–23. · methodology
  2. [2]Appeal overturn and decision-time benchmarks — Planning Inspectorate (PINS) appeal decisions and application date pairs; not yet computed per officer, shown as a dash until they are. · PINS appeals casework
  3. [3]Condition load — mean effective conditions attached to Westminster decision notices (grant/split), parsed from the published notice text; a borough figure, not yet split per case officer.
  4. [4]"How this officer decides", the policy playbook and all quotes — parsed from 78 published Westminster officer reports written by this officer, recited policy boilerplate stripped before counting; disposition text coded from their own reasoning with every quote machine-verified verbatim. Descriptive of how they work — not outcome predictions.
Methodology is published in full so every number is traceable to its primary source.