Call for councillors to keep planning powers

More powers over how our towns and cities grow could be delegated to council planning officers in future

An Oxfordshire MP has called for local councillors to retain their control over planning, as the government proposes major reforms.

Olly Glover, the Liberal Democrat MP for Didcot & Wantage, said councillors played a "key role" in the planning process and should keep their current positions.

The government has said it wants to ensure "councillors can focus on the biggest developments in their area".

A working paper sets out three options for a "national scheme of delegation", which would see more applications dealt with by unelected planning officers.

Giving a speech on the Planning and Infrastructure Bill in parliament, Mr Glover said councillors in his constituency had secured positive amendments to plans.

He said when the application for more than 4,000 homes at Valley Park in Didcot came to a planning committee, officers recommended it was approved.

But councillors said there was not enough provision for healthcare and there was a lack of cycling and walking infrastructure.

He said: "Due to elected representatives making speeches during the meeting, outlining the issues, the planning decision was deferred for a couple of months and those things were able to be added in.

"Keeping that local link and making sure that local people are brought into the planning process, and it's done with rather than done to, continues to be very important.

"And councillors play a key role in that and that is why they should retain their current positions and influence on planning committees."

Olly Glover, the Liberal Democrat MP for Didcot & Wantage, said councillors played a "key role" in the planning process

The government wants to build 1.5 million homes by 2029 and is introducing legislation to change the planning process.

It said it wanted to "modernise" how councillor-run planning committees work, ensuring they focus on "key applications for larger developments".

A spokesperson from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government said: "The Planning and Infrastructure Bill will improve local decision-making by ensuring councillors can focus on the biggest developments in their area, and democratic, local engagement with how homes are built will continue to be supported.

"This will speed up decisions and ensure they are being taken at the right level so we can get Britain building again."