Rother councillors to discuss planning reforms

On September 21, Rother District Council is due to debate a motion, which calls on members to voice formal objections to the National Scheme of Delegation.

The scheme, due to come into force on October 31, introduces new rules on what types of applications can be decided by councillors and those which must be decided by officers alone.

The motion, tabled by cabinet member for planning Teresa Killeen (Lib Dem), calls on the council to endorse the view that “planning decisions should continue to be made by locally elected councillors rather than being increasingly determined by officers under national rules”.

It also calls on councillors to endorse the view that “the Secretary of State is being given excessive power to dictate council constitutions and planning procedures.”

If the motion is agreed, council leader Doug Oliver will be asked to send a letter to Matthew Pennycook, the government minister responsible for planning, setting out these objections.

The new rules will prevent ward councillors from being able to “call-in” planning applications for a debate by a committee, as is currently permitted by the council’s constitution.

The rules also set out what type of applications “must be” determined by officers alone. These include “minor residential developments”, which refer to any proposals for nine or fewer homes on a site smaller than half a hectare.

Most reserved matters applications (schemes which follow on from outline planning applications) would also be decided by officers alone. The exception would be those tied to very large housing developments involving the construction of more than 500 homes.

There will be a few exceptions, such as applications brought forward by the council itself, or those linked to listed building consent applications.

But the government says there should be a “presumption” that decisions should be made by officers in most cases.