Planning changes – Angie means business
Apologies in advance, I know I am usually a bit of light relief but this week we have very serious matters to talk about. Sections 45 and 46 of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill that deals with “45 Training for local planning authorities in England” and “46 Delegation of planning decisions in England”.
S45 introduces regulations that will require compulsory training for planning committee members AND a requirement of a certificate by an accredited body. There is a further requirement that this is kept up-to-date AND published on the council website. The legislation also makes it very clear that if a member doesn’t have a valid qualification that they would be prohibited from making decisions.
This will also apply to regional mayors and anyone who assists the mayor in making planning decisions. This means that all the current Mayoralties and all the future ones will have to do the training and hold a valid certificate.
It is interesting to note that all the training courses and trainers will be accredited by the Secretary of State, so it tightens it up a lot. The reference to a certificate also indicates that there will be some proof needed to demonstrate that members have passed some form of assessment to prove that they understand the training.
This is a HUGE step forward.
S46 deals with the delegation of powers…i.e. what should and should not go to planning committee and the size of planning committees and how these committees should function. This is a bit more vague and it will take the form of a “regulation”, a legal tool that will set out how this should work.
This is where I would like to hear your views. My views are summarised below:
Any application for less than 10 units should NOT go to a committee and be delegated.
There needs to be a uniform approach to how long supporters and opponents can speak. Some places give three minutes, some five…
There needs to be a standard of how many public representations trigger a call in to committee and which Councillors can call it in. Currently it is all over the place and some places Parish Councils even have the power to call things in – that should be scrapped.
Some places automatically take applications over a certain size to committee regardless of public interest. If an application has attracted to no interest, why should it go to committee?
Any variations to permission (including S73s) should be delegated.
Planning Sub Committees should NOT be attached to a geographic area – how on earth can they make objective decisions?
Planning Committee Members should be form across the geographic area and there should be no more than seven on a committee.
Renewable energy should get the presumption in favour of development and treated as temporary installations (because they are!)
What are your thoughts? Email me back!
Henry