'Retrograde step' - Crawley councillors warn new planning rules will reduce local democracy

Under the National Scheme of Delegation, the changes will come into play from October 31 and will see officers make decisions on most planning applications – while the planning committee will focus on those which are economically, socially or environmentally significant locally.

The changes will remove the ability of borough councillors to call for applications to be determined by the planning committee rather than by officers. And the number of public representations – either in objection or support of an application – will no longer be a factor in deciding whether it should be sent to the committee.

Tabling a motion which urged the council to call on the government to review the changes, Conservative leader Duncan Crow said: “We are genuinely concerned that these changes are leaping onto a slippery slope where the future of local democratic involvement in planning matters becomes ever more diminished.”

He’s not the only one. At least one council has voted not to make the necessary changes to its Constitution, while many councillors on other authorities – including West Sussex County Council – have made it clear that they were not happy with the changes.

But these are regulations imposed by central government and ignoring them would leave councils open to legal action.

Mr Crow has been a councillor for 23 years and said that, year in year out, planning applications generated more interest from residents than anything else.

He added: “Until now, residents have had confidence that, when there is a substantial local concern on a planning application, that this would trigger a referral to committee – which is held in public and where residents can directly make representations in person.

“And there is a backstop where, if an application is very localised and wouldn’t generate the number of public representations needed to go to committee, a local ward councillor had that power to call it in to committee.”

A lengthy debate heard arguments for and against calling for a government review – but in the end the motion was lost by 15 votes to 19.

Leader Michael Jones pointed out that people would still be able to have their say on planning applications – it’s the procedure for getting them to the committee that will change.

He said he saw ‘little point’ in writing to the government and calling for a review, adding: “Instead of using our energy complaining about it, I think more constructive work could be done on looking at how this council will deal with planning in this new era.”