Agenda item

The Shadow Authority adopted a Constitution for BCP Council at its meeting on 21 February 2019.

The Constitution sets out how decisions on planning applications are made, including when they have to be considered by the Planning Committee.

It provides for Councillors in their Ward Councillor role to“call-in” certain specified types of applications to be considered by the Planning Committee if the site is within their Ward.

Concerns have been raised about these provisions and as a result they have been reviewed. This Report sets out proposals for Cabinet to consider and recommend to Council for approval at the meeting of Full Council on 16 July 2019.

RECOMMENDED that Full Council approve the following recommendations:

1.     Householder applications are within the scope of the planning applications that can be subject to Councillor call in to Committee.

2.     The call-in provisions for Planning Applications are extended to include all Councillors, on the same basis as that which applies to Ward Councillors currently, namely that the Councillor should set out why the application is potentially contentious and raises material planning issues that affect their ward or would affect the wider public interest. This is provided that the issue has been discussed with Ward Councillors or that Ward Councillors have been informed.

3. The period within which Councillors can request a call in is extended and must be made within 30 calendar days of the date the application was registered.

4.     A Councillor that has called in an application for consideration by Planning Committee may withdraw their request at any time up until seven days before publication of the Agenda for the meeting of the Planning Committee.

5.     A Councillor may make a conditional request that an application be called in – on the basis that it be called in to be considered by Committee if the officer is proposing to grant/refuse the application, in accordance with the process set out more fully in paragraph 19 below.

6.     That the Constitution be amended to reflect and implement the above.

Voting: Unanimous

REASON

To provide further public and democratic engagement with the planning decision making process and ensure that there are greater powers for elected Councillors and community representatives to refer matters to Planning Committee in cases where there is public interest and material planning reasons for debate at the Committee. This is intended to provide further transparency and to reinforce confidence in the planning process.

The Portfolio Holder for Strategic Planning presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated and which appears as Appendix 'F' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

The Cabinet was advised that the Shadow Authority adopted a Constitution for BCP Council at its meeting on 21 February 2019, which included provision for Councillors in their Ward Councillor role to“call-in” certain specified types of applications to be considered by the Planning Committee if the site is within their Ward. In response to concerns raised, these provisions had now been reviewed, resulting in recommendations being put forward for Cabinet to consider and recommend to Council for approval at its meeting on 16 July 2019.

The Portfolio Holder explained that the recommendations were intended to provide further public and democratic engagement in the planning decision making process and ensure greater powers for elected councillors to refer matters to Planning Committee. She reported that the following two recommendations in the report had been amended following discussion at the O&S Board on 8 July 2019:

Recommendation 2 to be reworded as follows (amendments in italics):

The call-in provisions for Planning Applications are extended to include all Councillors, on the same basis as that which applied to Ward Councillors currently, namely that the Councillor should set out why the application is potentially contentious and raises material planning issues that affect their ward or would affect the wider public interest. This is provided that the issue has been discussed with Ward Councillors or that Ward Councillors have been informed.

Recommendation 6 to be deleted, in recognition of the current disparity across the BCP area, to be addressed in due course through a comprehensive review of community governance arrangements. In the meantime, parish and town councils and neighbourhood forums would be contacted and advised of the role of ward councillors in representing their local communities in the planning process as set out in the revised recommendations

For clarity it was also agreed at the Cabinet meeting to add the word ‘calendar’ in Recommendation 3 to read ‘…30 calendar days…’

The Chairman of the O&S Board confirmed that the Board, at its meeting on 8 July 2019, had supported the recommendations as outlined in the Cabinet report with the exception of those set out below:

1.   Cabinet be recommended that recommendation 2 as outlined in the Cabinet report be approved with the following amendments:

(a)  That, after the words “material planning issues,” the words “that affect their ward” be added.

(b)  That at the end of the recommendation the following words be added: “provided that the issue has been discussed with the Ward Councillors or that the Ward Councillors have been informed”.

2.   The Overview and Scrutiny Board did not support recommendation 6 as outlined in the Cabinet report.

1.     The Board informally requested that the Portfolio Holder consider widening the scope to have planning issues brought to the Planning Committee through public involvement, through means such as the number of valid representations to planning applications, and that the Portfolio Holder consider amending the wording of recommendation three to change “date the application was registered” to “date the notice was displayed”.

The Chairman of the O&S Board asked that the wording of Recommendation 2 as amended be reviewed, specifically the use of the word ‘or’, as it was felt that this could be mis-used and the Constitution already provided for applications in the wider public interest to be considered by the Planning Committee.

A number of Councillors present at the meeting spoke in support of the recommendations as amended by the Portfolio Holder. A Councillor suggested removing the provision of councillor applications being referred to the Planning Committee but this was not taken forward.

A number of Cabinet Members commented in support of the recommendations as amended by the Portfolio Holder. It was considered that the recommendations responded promptly to the concerns raised about the call-in procedure and provided further transparency and confidence in the planning process.

The Cabinet did not consider it necessary to change the word ‘or’ in recommendation 2 as there were circumstances when this provision may be appropriate, and councillors were expected to undertake the call in process in a responsible manner.

Clarity was provided on a number of administrative issues, including:

• The ability of councillors to submit their own call-in, in addition to those made by ward or other councillors, and also add their name to an existing call-in by ward or other councillors.
• Applications classed as major or minor included business applications.
• It would be useful to include FAQs on material planning considerations on the planning section of the Council’s website.
• Letters sent to representations should include details of ward councillors.
• The Planning Service had been asked to address the delay between registration and display of site notice.

RECOMMENDED that Full Council approve the following recommendations:

1.     Householder applications are within the scope of the planning applications that can be subject to Councillor call in to Committee.

2.     The call-in provisions for Planning Applications are extended to include all Councillors, on the same basis as that which applied to Ward Councillors currently, namely that the Councillor should set out why the application is potentially contentious and raises material planning issues that affect their ward or would affect the wider public interest. This is provided that the issue has been discussed with Ward Councillors or that Ward Councillors have been informed.

3. The period within which Councillors can request a call in is extended and must be made within 30 calendar days of the date the application was registered.

4.     A Councillor that has called in an application for consideration by Planning Committee may withdraw their request at any time up until seven days before publication of the Agenda for the meeting of the Planning Committee.

5.     A Councillor may make a conditional request that an application be called in – on the basis that it be called in to be considered by Committee if the officer is proposing to grant/refuse the application, in accordance with the process set out more fully in paragraph 19 of the report.

6.     That the Constitution be amended to reflect and implement the above.

Voting: Unanimous

Portfolio Holder: Strategic Planning