Planning Committees are here to stay (and dreams of them going is pie-in-the-sky)
I was asked this week (again) whether I thought the Government will scrap planning committees and then there was a suggestion that a future hypothetical Reform UK government would scrap planning committees.
The answer is a very firm NO. Absolutely NOT. No chance AT ALL.
Now you may ask, Lamprecht, why are you so sure of yourself? The answer is very simple. You cannot take democracy away from people once you have democratised the process. There is no government, neither will there ever be one, that will be brave enough to remove the democratic element of giving the final say over planning matters from the elected representatives. It would go against the very grain of our democratic principles and stripping the people’s democratically elected representatives on this will NEVER happen. In fact, if you look at Licensing, it used to be with magistrates and was given over to elected Councillors. If anything, the democratic elements are expanding, not contracting (also remember the big drive for more powerful regional government with Mayoralties to sit over councils).
The best we can hope for is legislation that will make committees smaller and require them to gain some simple qualifications to enhance their democratic, quasi-judicial duties on the planning committee.
This doesn’t solve your problems though… How do you navigate your way through a planning committee? Here are a few tips (but you’ll have to call me for the details!)
WHO? Understand WHO is on your planning committee. Are they Tories, Labour, LibDem Residents, Green, Reform… coalitions with agreements? If you are trying to “sell” something (i.e. a planning application) you need to know WHO you are selling to.
WHAT? You need to remember that your application may be the most important thing in your life… but for the Councillor on the planning committee it is no more than one item of many on planning committees that meet regularly. You are just one of many. WHAT are you trying to get them to support? Are you expecting them to support an unimaginative application, shrouded in technical jargon that their voters are against? If you are… GOOD LUCK!
WHY? Why would they turn your application down or approve it? It is simple human instinct. You need to present something that will appeal to them. Councillors stand for election and are democratically elected to make the area they represent better and if you can’t convince them that your plans will make it better, don’t be surprised if they turn you down. They have priorates and ideologies (beliefs) and if you don’t reflect that, you are very likely to be met with resistance.
HOW? How can you get to a better place? By understanding WHO you are talking to, WHAT you are communicating and WHY they should support your application.
Call me, I’m on 07736121014 (I am cheaper and quicker than a KC and an appeal!) Our all-Party team of current and former politicians actually understand this and our 99.3% success rate speaks for itself!
Henry