Agenda item

To consider the proposed amendments to the Protocol for Councillors and Officers Involved in the Planning Process and to put forward any comments for consideration by the Standards Committee at its meeting on 22 November 2016 prior to the revised Protocol being taken to the Council meeting on 6 December 2016.

54.1           Attention was drawn to the report of the Borough Solicitor, circulated at Pages No.30-113, which set out the outcomes of a review of the Protocol for Councillors and Officers Involved in the Planning Process.  The Planning Committee was asked to consider the proposed amendments to the Protocol and to put forward any comments for consideration by the Standards Committee at its meeting later that afternoon prior to being taken to the Council meeting on 6 December 2016.

54.2           The Borough Solicitor reminded Members that a new Protocol had been adopted by Council in April 2015. This had coincided with the introduction of the Scheme for Public Participation at Planning Committee which the Council had since resolved to continue on a permanent basis.  After being operational for 12 months, the  Protocol had been reviewed by a Joint Working Group of Members from the Planning and Standards Committees and, as well as grammatical and typographical errors, two minor amendments had been identified.  The first related to the practice of allowing Parish Council representatives to attend Site Visits to point out any factual information they felt was necessary.  Unfortunately, this had not tended to be the general experience and there had been occasions when the representatives had attempted to give their views on the application which had resulted in a perception that the process was not open or transparent given that no other statutory consultees were permitted to attend.  It was noted that Parish Councils now had an opportunity to express their views through the Scheme for Public Participation at Planning Committee and, on that basis, the Working Group had considered that Parish Council representatives should no longer be invited to attend Committee Site Visits.  The second amendment related to the Advance Site Visits briefing which was included as a item on the Planning Committee Agenda each month and intended to set out those applications which would be subject to a Committee Site Visit at the appropriate time.  The Borough Solicitor understood that this had not worked particularly well in practice and the document had not been populated for some time.  The Working Group considered it to be unnecessary given the arrangements within the Scheme for Public Participation and the new Protocol and it was recommended that this no longer be included on the Agenda.  The Standards Committee was due to meet later that afternoon to consider the same report and to take on board any comments which Members may have.

54.3           A Member indicated that having Parish Council representatives on site could be useful in terms of local knowledge and, whilst she understood that it was not acceptable for them to express a view, she questioned whether Parish Councils would still be informed when Committee Site Visits were taking place to give them an opportunity to submit any factual information which they felt should be taken into account by Members.  The Borough Solicitor advised that, if the revised Protocol was approved by Council on 6 December, it would be necessary to write to Parish Councils to advise them of the changes; putting submissions to Councillors in writing seemed like a good alternative if they were no longer permitted to attend site visits and this could be suggested in the letter.  The Vice-Chair, who had sat on the Working Group, explained that one of the problems with the current Committee Site Visit procedure was that Parish Councillors sometimes gave their personal views as opposed to the views of their Parish Council.  The introduction of the Scheme for Public Participation at Planning Committee had helped to address this.  Several Members supported this view and recognised the importance of transparency in the planning process.

54.4           A Member indicated that most Parish Councillors volunteered for Committees and therefore the majority had received no formal training in planning procedures which could be an issue going forward.  In connection with this, a Member questioned when the Planning Committee would be receiving additional training and the Borough Solicitor advised that this was being arranged for February and Members would receive more details in due course. 

54.5           Having considered the information provided, and views expressed, it was

RESOLVED          To recommend to the Standards Committee that the revised Protocol for Councillors and Officers Involved in the Planning Process be RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL for APPROVAL.