Believing, as this Council does, that “planning works best when local communities are empowered”, “to shape local areas”, the Council calls for all Town and Parish Councils in South Cambs to be given the unimpeded power to require that a planning application in their area be determined by the Planning Committee rather than by officers.
Decision:
Council Rejected this motion.
Minutes:
Councillor Dr Richard Williams proposed and Councillor Heather Williams the following motion:
“Believing, as this Council does, that “planning works best when local communities are empowered”, “to shape local areas”, the Council calls for all Town and Parish Councils in South Cambs to be given the unimpeded power to require that a planning application in their area be determined by the Planning Committee rather than by officers.”
Councillor Dr Richard Williams explained that this motion was designed to empower parish councils to be able to refer planning applications to the Planning Committee. He praised parish councils, which represented their communities and were attended by district councillors and residents. He suggested that if the motion was rejected, the Council was stating that it did not trust the District’s parish councils.
Councillor Heather Williams reminded Council that in May 2020 Planning Committee had narrowly rejected the proposal to allow parish councils to refer planning applications to the Planning Committee. The assurance had been given that all parish councils would be consulted on the new scheme of delegation, but this had not happened.
Councillor Deborah Roberts asserted that the Council should carry out what it had pledged to do and consult with the parish councils, which were democratically elected bodies and represented their local communities.
Councillor Nigel Cathcart suggested that currently the right number of applications were going to the Planning Committee and expressed concern that if parish councils were able to refer matters to the Committee it would become overloaded and decisions would be delayed. Councillor Brian Milnes agreed and added that many concerns expressed about planning applications at a lower level were not material considerations and he did want to see the Planning Committee dealing with trivial matters.
Councillor Sue Ellington explained that a parish council in her ward was frustrated their views were not being listened to. She asserted that if any concerns expressed were not material considerations the parish council could be informed of that, whilst any material considerations could be properly discussed.
Councillor Dr Tumi Hawkins explained that the Council consulted with parish councils, as laid out in Section 25 of the Town and Country Planning Act 2015, which involved notifying parish councils of any applications in their area and treating them as consultees. She reported that allowing parish councils to refer any items to the Planning Committee implied that they had control of the agenda, which was unlawful and this power had been removed by the previous administration. Quarterly meetings were held with planning area teams, which allowed parish councillors to engage directly with officers. Although only four parish councils attended the last meeting, when 14 had been invited. Councillor Nick Wright suggested that this indicated that the Council was losing the confidence of parish councils. He estimated that in 2004 80% of applications were determined by officers but now it was approximately 99%. He reported that district councillors also brought up non-material considerations. He concluded that the Council should support its communities and the impressive work of the parish councils.
Councillor Ruth Betson reported that Cambourne Town Council has its own Planning Committee that meets regularly, but it was being side-lined by the Council. She urged that the Council supports this motion, to ensure input from the District’s parish councils, town councils and its communities.
Councillor Pippa Heylings stated that she was committed to assisting the District’s communities and she met regularly with its parish councils. The planning scheme of delegation was being kept under review and the planning development group discussed applications.
Councillor John Batchelor explained that the Council had carried out a peer review of its planning delegation process and had set up a planning development group. Parish councils were informed why the criteria for taking the application to the Planning Committee had not been met. He estimated that there used to be 200 delegation requests a year but this had now decreased to about 50.
Councillor Grenville Chamberlain suggested that if the authority was a listening Council, it should listen to the parish councils and support the motion.
Councillor Dr Richard Williams concluded that the objective of the motion was to empower our local communities, not just engage with them. Currently an officer could veto a request from a parish council that an application be determined by the Planning Committee, whilst this motion would empower parish councils and give them the power of effectively calling-in an officer decision.
Upon the motion being put, a vote was taken and were cast as follows:
In favour (9):
Councillors Ruth Betson, Grenville Chamberlain, Graham Cone, Sue Ellington, Deborah Roberts, Bunty Waters, Dr Richard Williams, Heather Williams and Nick Wright
Against (18):
Councillors Henry Batchelor, John Batchelor, Paul Bearpark, Anna Bradnam, Nigel Cathcart, Dr Claire Daunton, Peter Fane, Corinne Garvie, Neil Gough, Bill Handley, Geoff Harvey, Dr Tumi Hawkins, Pippa Heylings, Peter McDonald, Brian Milnes, Dr Ian Sollom, Dr Aidan Van de Weyer and John Williams
Abstain (0)
Council Rejected this motion.