Wyre councillors raise concern over how planning cases will be delt with in future

Major government changes which will affect how local authorities handle planning applications in England have been slammed as “undemocratic” by a Wyre councillor.

Cllr Peter Le Marinel said the new procedures would mean “virtually nothing” would be decided by planning committees in future, depriving councillors of the powers to challenge controversial applications.

Under new measures that will take effect from Saturday (October 31) through the National Scheme of Delegation, most minor and small residential applications (up to 9 homes on sites below 0.5 hectares) must be decided by professional planning officers rather than elected councillors through a planning committee.

Larger or more complex applications will also be decided by officers by default. They can only go to a planning committee if both the council’s senior planning officer and the chair of the planning committee agree it raises significant planning, economic, social, or environmental issues - a situation called the ‘Gateway Test’.

However, Wyre’s labour Leader, Cllr Rob Fail, says that while he has come concerns about the changes, he believes they will not have as much impact as the Conservatives say they will.

Why are the changes happening?

The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) states that shakeup — being implemented via the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025—will speed up housebuilding, reduce red tape and make planning decisions more consistent across the country.

The Labour Government plans will make it easier to push through housing projects as part of its target to build 1.5 million new homes in England by 2029.

The Government target is also backed by green belt changes and billions in social and affordable housing funding.

At last Thursday night’s full council meeting, councillors hit out at the plans before taking a vote on amendments to the Constitution that are required to prepare for the new planning regime.

If councils fail to agree with this, they could face a host of penalties, including being put in special measures, Whitehall says.

Conservative member Cllr Le Marinel, who is Wyre’s Planning Policy and Economic Development Portfolio Holder, told the meeting: “I think the changes to the planning committees are the most undemocratic thing I’ve seen from a Government ever.

“These decisions should be made by a planning committee, not planning officers.

“If this comes in, virtually nothing will go before a planning committee - one person will decide it. It’s shambolic.”

On the night, council members reluctantly approved amendments to the Constitution that are required to prepare for the implementation of the changes.

Afterward, Cllr Michael Vincent, Leader of the Conservative-led council, said: “This takes away the powers of local councils to act, it decimates our planning powers.

“No one wants this and we discussed the option of going against the amendments, but if we had done, this thing will still go ahead and it will just mean our constitution is unlawful.”

Cllr Fail commented: “I can see both sides in this - the issue is that we all want councillors and residents to be involved in the democratic process.

“But when you consider that 97 per cent of planning applications in Wyre have been decided by the officer anyway, the Conservative group were making a big drama out of it. Of those three per cent, only two out of 24 were overturned.

“Ten years ago they brought in changes which meant that only ward councillors could “call in” a planning application that was deemed worrying, whilst before any councillor could do it.

“They can hardly complain about the undemocratic process now.”