Changes to the way planning decisions are made will come in to force at the end of October.
National government has introduced new rules designed to speed up the planning process, which will result in fewer planning applications being determined by a planning committee.
Instead, most household planning applications for things like extensions, minor residential and minor commercial developments and reserved matters approvals associated with outline planning permission for schemes of fewer than 500 dwellings or less than 50,000 square metres of floorspace, will now be classed as ‘schedule 1’ applications and will, under normal circumstances, be determined by council planning officers under delegated powers.
Planning committees made up of local councillors will only determine ‘schedule 2’ applications, including applications for larger housing schemes and some listed building consents.
Under the new rules, applications that raise ‘economic, social or environmental issues of significance to the local area’ and/or applications that raise a ‘significant planning matter having regard to the development plan and any other material considerations’ could still be referred to the planning committee for decision.
There are also provisions in the new government instructions where planning applications submitted by the council itself, council officers or councillors, or applications where any councillor or officer has a personal interest, can be referred to the planning committee to ‘support transparency and propriety’.
The new rules are part of changes to the Town and Country Planning Regulation Act introduced by the Government this year and are due to come into force on 31 October 2026.
To prepare for the changes, Westmorland and Furness Council agreed at its meeting at the end of September to move to a single planning committee from 31 October to handle the ‘schedule 2’ applications and to dissolve the four existing planning committees, including the three local area planning committees.
The new single planning committee will comprise 13 members - the maximum allowed under the rules - made up of councillors representing all areas of Westmorland and Furness to ensure appropriate political balance and geographical representation in decision-making.
Councillors heard that with many more applications being classed as ‘schedule 1’ under the new government rules and being required to be determined under delegated powers, there wasn’t the need for the current system of four separate planning committees.
A report to Full Council said that failing to make the statutory changes could leave the council open to legal challenge.
The report stated: “Members should note that, once the regulations come into force, any planning decision taken otherwise than in accordance with the statutory scheme may be susceptible to legal challenge.
“As stated in the Government's guidance: ‘For the avoidance of doubt, where local planning authorities do not comply with the regulations from the date they come into force (31 October 2026) and their planning committees make decisions on applications which must be delegated by officers, those decisions may be subject to judicial review by anyone aggrieved by the decision.’
“This may lead to the quashing of the decision.”