Poole Conservative Councillor Warns Planning Reforms Risk Weakening Residents’ Local Voice
A BCP Conservative councillor has raised concerns that major changes to England’s planning system could weaken the ability of local residents to have their concerns heard when development affects their neighbourhood.
Cllr John Challinor, Conservative councillor for Canford Cliffs and a member of BCP Council’s Western Planning Committee, has spoken out over the Government’s new National Scheme of Delegation for planning decisions, which comes into force on 31 October. The reforms will introduce a national framework determining which planning applications must be decided by professional planning officers and which may be considered by elected councillors on planning committees.
The Government says the changes are intended to bring greater clarity and consistency to planning decisions, allowing committees to concentrate on key proposals while more minor and technical matters are dealt with by planning officers. However, Cllr Challinor has raised an important concern, a development does not have to be large to have a significant impact on the people living beside it. Issues such as overlooking, loss of privacy, parking pressures, traffic, access and the character of a neighbourhood can have a very real effect on residents and their everyday lives.
Under the new national scheme, some categories of planning application will have to be determined by officers. For another category of applications, there will be a presumption that they are determined by officers unless they meet specified criteria and both a nominated planning officer and nominated councillor agree that the application should go before a planning committee. This represents a significant change from locally determined schemes of delegation and will restrict the circumstances in which elected councillors can bring planning applications before a committee. Cllr Challinor has warned that planning committees can provide an important “safety net” where applications raise particular concerns, allowing issues to receive public scrutiny before a decision is made.
His concerns also reflect a wider debate about how the Government’s reforms balance efficiency with local democratic oversight. The Local Government Association has previously supported the principle of improving clarity and consistency within the planning system, while also arguing that councils need sufficient flexibility to reflect different local circumstances.
There is undoubtedly a case for making the planning system more efficient. Routine and technical applications should not face unnecessary delays and professional planning officers play an essential role in assessing applications against planning law and policy but efficiency and local democracy should not be mutually exclusive.
For residents, planning decisions can directly affect their homes, their streets and the communities in which they live. Where an application raises significant local concerns, it is important that residents continue to feel there is a meaningful democratic route through which those concerns can be heard. We welcome Cllr Challinor speaking up on an issue which will affect communities not only in Poole but across Bournemouth and Christchurch too. A faster and more efficient planning system is a worthwhile objective but it should not come at the expense of residents having a meaningful local voice in decisions affecting the places they call home.
You can read Cllr John Challinor's original comments in the Bournemouth Echo here Bournemouth Echo
Jo Keeling
Deputy Chair Political
