From the 31st of October, the Labour Government are making some huge changes to the way planning committees work in England and Wiltshire.
At the moment controversial applications can be ‘called into committee’ by a Wiltshire Councillor. This means that the decision will be made in public with residents able to have their say in public.
From the 31st of October this will end for:
All developments for nine houses or fewer, as well as small commercial applications. Those applications will automatically be determined by a planning officer without any public meeting.
There are lots of other types of application that will also be removed from any potential call in.
Larger applications can potentially still be called in, but rather than the local Councillor being able to call them in, now any call in must be agreed by a senior officer (probably the Director of Planning) and one single Councillor, probably the Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee, the senior officer will have the power of veto.
This is a shocking betrayal of the democratic process in my view. Whilst Parish Councils and residents can still submit their concerns to planning officer, they will not have a chance to explain those concerns to councillors on a planning committee when they are contentious. Decisions will almost all now be made in private, by only one individual.
Yours,
Councillor Jane Davies
Wiltshire Councillor for Marlborough West
Chair of Marlborough Area Board
Chair of Health Select Committee
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