Decision

RESOLVED

That Council:

a)     approve the revisions to be made to the constitution in relation to the planning scheme of delegation as set out in Appendix B, to come into effect on 31 October 2026.

b)     approve that the number of members on a planning committee or sub-committee will be retained at 13 members.

c)     approve the arrangements for the nominated officer and nominated member set out in paragraphs 5.13 and 5.14 of this report[KC1].

Reason for Recommendations – To ensure that the Council’s Constitution is fully compliant with the legal requirements set out in the Town and Country Planning (Discharge of Local Planning Authority Functions) (England) Regulations 2026 that come into effect on 31 October 2026.

Alternative Options Considered –

•         To ignore the Planning Regulations and not amend the Constitution to reflect the new national scheme of delegation requirements. This option is not recommended  as this would put the Council at risk of legal challenge to any planning decisions issued by the Local Planning Authority, due to decisions not being in accordance with the regulations.

•         To include a wider range of schedule 2 application types to be included in the referral process. This is not recommended  due to the large number of applications that would be subject to the referral process, thereby slowing down the decision-making process.

[KC1]Is this the correct para number?