The Procedures Committee on 31 January 2024 referred the following NOM (presented at Council on 17 October 2023 by Cllr J Taylor) to this Committee with a recommendation that a task and finish group be set up with Cllr J Taylor being a member of the group.
The Minutes and agenda for the Procedures Committee on 31 January 2024 can be found at the link below
“I would like your support for the following motion, which I believe will improve transparency within the planning process and give councillors more decision making in regards to planning applications and amendments of major developments. It is particularly important that all decisions relating to the loss of agreed 106 affordable units, are made by the Planning Committee.
Planning is a process tied up in legislation, including the committee decision making element. Councillors are, when an application comes to committee, presented with recommendations, accompanied by detailed reports and are expected to adopt an open mind when deciding on the merits of that application. Often, the officer presenting the report has anticipated where concerns might lie and along with technical aspects listed conditions that will apply should the application be passed.
On large sites, those conditions might relate to aspects such as the number of affordable homes, children’s play areas and green landscaping. Thus, typically, the committee members make a decision based on what is in front of them but in reality the ends product looks nothing like the approved application.
That application may then change beyond recognition by a process of amendments, submitted by the applicant and approved by delegated authority. It may never come back to the Planning Committee.
This is a well-established practice by Developers which enables the Plans to be passed and then amended so that the maximum profit can be achieved. It is called value engineering. I call it disingenuous and it’s time it stopped.
The council are well aware of this process but choose to engage with it for fear of the monetary consequences of non-compliance. It is no secret that this council, along with many others, has an unhealthy dependency on the money provided by major house builders.
It is time to draw the line and take the first steps to breaking the cycle and distancing ourselves from this unhealthy relationship, by developing a transparent process and sending a clear signal to Developers. We will not be bartering to build houses. Submit, approve, build. We will no longer be engaging in planning ping pong.
The motion calls for additional transparency by ensuring that on all major developments (over 20 homes,) where variations to conditions are applied for, must be brought to the planning committee.
This is to apply to all 106 changes and any visible amendments, eg. change of materials, removal of garages, landscaping, etc.
All amendments on the grounds of viability, must come to the Planning Committee. (However, it should be an exception rather than the rule. Viability should covered at the initial planning application stage. If a development is not viable then it should be withdrawn).”