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The Cabinet Member for Planning and Coastal Management introduced report ES/0387 which was to provide a review of the Planning Application Referral Process after its first year of operation at East Suffolk Council. The data before Members indicated that it was a satisfactory process that had been working well. He invited his Assistant Cabinet Member to address the Committee.
The Planning Manager reminded Members that a new scheme of delegation had been brought into force in April 2019 for East Suffolk Council, aligning the former authorities of Suffolk Coastal and Waveney District Councils. The scheme set out the means by which applications could be determined and clarified which applications would be determined by the Head of Planning and Coastal Management under delegated powers and which applications would be referred to the Planning Committee for consideration. Paragraph 2.3 of the report outlined the process and the reasons by which a planning application would be referred to the Referral Panel. The Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen of the Planning Committees formed the Referral Panel and were furnished with a report and presentation on the applications for their consideration. At the conclusion of each meeting, the Ward Member(s), Town/Parish Council and Applicant(s) were notified of the outcome.
The Planning Manager explained that, from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020, a total of 2,291 planning applications had been determined by the Council, with 295 being presented to the Referral Panel because of various comments made by the relevant Town or Parish Council and also County Highways. Ward Member input had triggered only 12 of the applications considered by the Referral Panel. Full details of the 295 applications considered by the Referral Panel were appended to the report. The Referral Panel had referred 36 applications to Committee for determination. In the same period, 39 applications were submitted straight to the Planning Committees giving a total of 75 applications presented to Committee, 43 to the Planning Committee North and 32 to the Planning Committee South.
It was considered that the Referral Panel process had worked well and should continue in its current form, with an annual monitoring report being submitted to the Strategic Planning Committee.
The Assistant Cabinet Member for Planning and Coastal Management advised the Committee that he had regularly attended the Referral Panel meetings as an observer. The consideration of the applications had been undertaken in detail and in his view, the process was not resulting in a cut back on the number of applications going to Committee; it was a necessary process so as to ensure that decisions were taken in a timely fashion and that 12 or more applications were not considered by Committee every month. He reminded the Committee that all Members were entitled to attend Referral Panel meetings as observers and that Ward Members should consider commenting on applications at the appropriate time during the consultation period.
Concern was expressed over the lack of Councillor involvement and it was suggested that Ward Members should be commenting on all applications in their area. No comment showed some weakness in the system and Ward Members needed to be involved. It was suggested that the trigger for referral should be amended to read contrary to Town/Parish Council “and Ward Member” so that a Ward Member had to comment. It was also proposed that the decision of the Referral Panel should be made known to the Ward Member before the decision was published. Consideration should also be given to not undermining public understanding; the Referral Panel was only advisory. Members should be able to call-in an application if they so wished. Comment was made that Town/Parish Councils did not always understand the participation process and sometimes just said ‘refuse’ with no additional comments being made which would allow the Referral Panel to understand the reasoning.
The Planning Manager explained that the Planning Service had held a number of Town and Parish Forums and undertaken Member Training so the process was well known. It was, therefore, hoped there would be no lack of confidence in the planning system. The process would be reiterated at subsequent training sessions.
The Head of Planning and Coastal Management explained that the opportunity was available for Ward Members to comment. Responses from Ward Members at the consultation stage provided valuable early input and assisted the officers in preparing their reports, as well as supporting the smooth running of the planning system. There was no reason why Ward Members could not attend a Referral Panel meeting, via Skype or Zoom, to observe. He referred to other reports on the Agenda in that performance was good, complaints were few and appeals had been defended; there should be confidence in the planning system and its operation.
The Cabinet Member for Planning and Coastal Management explained that he had been involved with the planning service for a number of years and had found there to be no issues with the service provided.
Note: Due to a technical issue, the meeting was adjourned at 11.36am and reconvened at 11.44am.
Having been duly proposed and seconded, a vote was taken on the recommendation and it was
RESOLVED
1. That the content of the report be noted and the Referral Panel process be maintained in its current form.
2. That the officers be requested to provide the Strategic Planning Committee with a yearly report on the Referral Panel.
Note: The meeting was adjourned at 11.49am for a comfort break and reconvened at 11.55am.