Minutes:
Councillor Nick Wright, speaking in his capacity of Planning Portfolio Holder, referred to an e-mail sent by a Cambridgeshire County Councillor to the eight Conservative members of the Planning Committee and to Councillor Deborah Roberts, an Independent member of the Committee.
Councillor Wright described as wholly unacceptable a request that, in effect, a planning application on the present agenda should be determined on political grounds, rather than solely on the basis of material planning considerations. He said that recipients of the e-mail had been placed in a difficult position as a result. He added that, to the best of his knowledge, South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Planning Committee had never acted in a political manner. He said it had always been made very clear to all members of the committee in their training that planning was not a political issue and that all members were free to make their own decisions. He said he would be disregarding the contents of the email.
The Senior Lawyer referred to his e-mail to the Planning Committee, sent on 28 October 2010. By way of emphasis, he read out that e-mail, of which the body of the text read as follows:
“…I have this morning been provided with a copy of an email that requires I advise and remind you as to your duties when considering business before the Planning Committee.
Briefly, the email I have been provided with has been sent to various (but not all) committee members, and urges a vote for a particular outcome in respect of the above application on grounds that are expressly party political and personality based.
Lobbying of this nature is inappropriate and cannot lawfully be given any weight when arriving at your decision in respect of this (or any) planning application. The determination of planning applications can only be on the basis of planning policy and material planning considerations as individually assessed by members, and political or personal allegiance is not a relevant factor that can be legitimately considered.
Your duties in this respect are confirmed in the Council's Constitution, at Part M, 'Procedural Guidance for Members and Officers in Planning and Licensing - Supplemental to the Code of Conduct'.
I reproduce below two relevant passages:
Paragraph 2 states that, 'Members of the committee will be free to vote on applications as they consider appropriate (i.e., without a Party ‘whip’), deciding them in the light of all the relevant information, evidence and arguments. They will base their decisions on the provisions of the Acts and regulations under which the applications are made and fall to be determined (“the statutory framework”).
Paragraph 4 states that, 'In accordance with paragraph 6 of the Code of the Conduct for Members of the Council, a member will not use his or her position as a member improperly to confer or secure for himself or herself, or for any other person, an advantage or disadvantage.'
It will be seen that when sitting as Planning Committee members, councillors are obliged to act apolitically, openly, and fairly in discharging the responsibilities of their role. Apart from the potential individual consequences for any member who departs from these principles such that the Code of Conduct is breached, I should stress that decisions of the Local Planning Authority based on factors other than planning policy and/or material planning considerations will be susceptible to challenge by way of judicial review and it is extremely likely that any such challenge, if successful, will result in the Council being penalised in costs as well as suffering the corporate embarrassment of having to remake the defective decision.
Accordingly, I must advise in the strongest terms that any email (or other representations) you have received urging that this or any other planning application be decided in a manner that serves political or personal allegiance is entirely disregarded…”
The Senior Lawyer addressed the suggestion that Council officers were in the habit of monitoring emails between members and refuted this allegation, saying that there was no routine monitoring of emails by officers. He added that a concerned recipient of the e-mail had forwarded it to officers.
Councillor Deborah Roberts stated unreservedly that she would not be a party to such behaviour, referring to the comments contained in the e-mail from the County Councillor, and stressed that she had a duty to act properly. Upon receiving that e-mail, she had shared it with colleagues in the Independent Group, each of whom had shared her shock and concern. Councillor Roberts stated that the public had to be assured that planning applications would only ever be considered on the merits of each case and strictly on planning grounds.
The Senior Lawyer advised those recipients of the County Councillor’s e-mail that, should any of them feel unable to act fairly as a result, specifically in relation to application S/0244/10/F in Gamlingay, then they should withdraw from the Chamber at the appropriate time. For the avoidance of doubt, he told Members that there was no other reason not to participate in the consideration of the Gamlingay item.
Councillor Charles Nightingale, a member of the Planning Committee, recipient of the e-mail and Chairman of the Council said that, as Conservative Group whip, he could confirm that he had never imposed that whip in relation to planning matters.
In conclusion, Councillor Pippa Corney, Chairman of the Planning Committee, reiterated that the Planning Committee was totally non-political.