Agenda item

The Leader of the Council acting on behalf of the Portfolio Holder, ENDORSED and RECOMMENDED to the Planning Committee that the current scheme of delegation be amended in the following manner:

a)    To allow all decisions to be delegated other than those listed in Appendix A of the report.

b)    That the time given for District Councillors to request an application be considered by Planning Committee is extended from 21 to 28 days.

c)    That the automatic referral to Planning Committee is removed when an officer recommendation of approval conflicts with representations by the Parish Council and these cannot be substantially addressed by planning condition. Instead this is replaced by the right of the Parish Council to request an application is considered by Planning Committee. The request must be supported by material planning reasons and the final decision on whether the application is considered by Planning Committee will be taken by the Chairman of Planning Committee as advised by the Designated Officer (Head of Development Management or Head of New Communities).

The Leader of the Council AGREED that the Revised Scheme of Delegation should be given at least one year to bed in, and a formal review process involving Parish Councils should take place within 24 months.

Before the report was presented, the Leader of the Council invited Mr Lawrence Wragg, Chairman of Fowlmere Parish Council, to address the meeting. Mr Wragg raised the following concerns on behalf of Fowlmere Parish Council, with regards to the proposed amendments to the current Scheme of Delegated Powers:

·         Concern regarding the influence of officers in advising on what should go to Planning Committee for determination, and concern that the role of elected members was being reduced.

·         Concern that there would be a conflict of interest for officers, which had not been adequately addressed in proposals.

·         Concern that officer decisions led to a private rather than pubic decision making process. The Parish Council felt that for planning to deliver satisfactory results, the process had to be open.

·         Parish Councils were becoming disillusioned with the entire planning process, feeling like their views were not being heard.

·         Parish Councils would like to see planning decisions taken by a show of hands at committee meetings.

Councillor Lynda Harford responded to Mr Wragg’s concerns as Chairman of the Council’s Planning Committee:

·         Councillor Harford understood the Parish Council’s concerns regarding the influence of officers advising on what should go to Planning Committee for determination, however provided assurance that she would not be influenced if she felt that an application should go to the Planning Committee.

·         Councillor Harford informed Mr Wragg that she had made it her undertaking as Planning Committee Chairman, to explain in writing to Parish Councils why an application would not be considered at Planning Committee.

·         Councillor Harford empathised with the disillusionment felt by Parish Councils regarding the Planning system.

·         Councillor Harford explained that when considering requests for applications to be considered by the Planning Committee, local Members were consulted.

·         Councillor Harford supported the idea of a show of hands when voting at Planning Committee and intended to request that this be implemented from the start of the next municipal year.

Councillor Nick Wright expressed support for what Councillor Harford had said, emphasising as a former Planning Committee Chairman, that the committee always listened to Parish Councils. However the committee had found that few Parish Councils attended Planning Committee meetings when relevant applications were being considered.

Mr Wragg thanked Members for their responses and expressed disappointment that some Parish Councils did not attend Planning Committee when relevant applications were considered. He emphasised that Parish Councils provided the important input of local knowledge to the decision making process.

The Leader of the Council acting on behalf of the Planning Portfolio Holder, considered the report which considered the responses received in respect of the proposed changes to the scheme of delegation and made a recommendation on a revised scheme to the Planning Committee. The Head of New Communities informed Members that since the writing of the report, Sawston Parish Council had commented on the proposals and was happy with the current arrangements and therefore objected to any change.

The Leader of the Council acting on behalf of the Portfolio Holder, ENDORSED and RECOMMENDED to the Planning Committee that the current scheme of delegation be amended in the following manner:

a)    To allow all decisions to be delegated other than those listed in Appendix A of the report.

b)    That the time given for District Councillors to request an application be considered by Planning Committee is extended from 21 to 28 days.

c)    That the automatic referral to Planning Committee is removed when an officer recommendation of approval conflicts with representations by the Parish Council and these cannot be substantially addressed by planning condition. Instead this is replaced by the right of the Parish Council to request an application is considered by Planning Committee. The request must be supported by material planning reasons and the final decision on whether the application is considered by Planning Committee will be taken by the Chairman of Planning Committee as advised by the Designated Officer (Head of Development Management or Head of New Communities).

The Leader of the Council AGREED that the Revised Scheme of Delegation should be given at least one year to bed in, and a formal review process involving Parish Councils should take place within 24 months.