Governance Gridlock: GM Council Stripped of Planning Decision Powers

Tameside council finds itself in a precarious legal position, facing the prospect of breaking the law if it proceeds with planning panel meetings or makes planning decisions as the new government reforms take effect on October 31. During a recent town hall meeting on October 6 in Dukinfield Town Hall, the council voted against these new Whitehall-mandated changes.

These reforms are designed to significantly reduce the power of local planning committees by imposing a maximum of 13 members and limiting the number of applications they can decide. To continue operating as a Local Planning Authority (LPA), many local authorities are required to amend their constitutions to accommodate these new rules. Tameside council, however, failed to agree to this crucial constitutional change.

The council’s legal officer explicitly warned that voting against the changes would render any planning decision made after October 31 unlawful, effectively preventing any planning committee meetings from legally taking place in Tameside. Deputy council leader, Councillor Andrew McLaren, reinforced this, stating that such decisions would be vulnerable to legal challenges, potentially costing the council “thousands, thousands and thousands of pounds.”

The proposed government changes drew strong criticism from council members. Reform leader Allan Hopwood condemned the reforms as “egregious” and described the vote as being held with a “gun to the head,” expressing disgust at what he and colleagues perceived as an erosion of local residents’ voices. Conservative leader Andrea Colbourne echoed these concerns, highlighting that many applications previously decided by elected councillors would now fall to council officers, undermining the transparency residents expect for major local developments. While Planning panel chair David Mills acknowledged his disagreement with some of the changes, he attempted to reassure the chamber that democratic processes for local residents would still be maintained.

Councillor McLaren, despite personal feelings towards the reforms, stressed the council’s responsibility to uphold the law and fulfill its duties as an LPA. The vote saw only the Labour group in favour of the changes, but they were narrowly defeated. Consequently, it is anticipated that an extraordinary council meeting will be convened before October 31 to reconsider the matter and avert the impending legal impasse.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has stated that the purpose of these reforms is to accelerate the approval of developments and standardize planning operations across all councils. Currently, local authorities exhibit variations in their planning committee approaches, such as the duration objectors can speak, who can 'call-in' decisions, or the number of councillors on a committee, though they are largely similar.

Under the new regulatory framework, planning applications will be categorized into two tiers, designated by planning officers. Schedule 1 applications will encompass smaller, more technical submissions handled exclusively by planning officers, such as an attic conversion on a semi-detached house. Schedule 2 applications, covering larger developments like a skyscraper with 1,250 homes, may be presented before the planning committee if approved by both the planning committee chair and the council’s chief planning officer. Furthermore, the reforms mandate a reduction in the size of planning committees and require all members to undergo a formal training process.