Concerns Public Say On New Housing Reduced As Planning Rules Shift To Officers

Sweeping national changes to the planning system taking effect this month will see most housing developments decided by unelected council officers rather than local councillors across North Yorkshire and the East Riding.

There are concerns that the public input on new housing developments will plummet at the end of October as sweeping national planning changes take effect.

Unelected council officers will determine the vast majority of planning applications behind closed doors across North Yorkshire and the East Riding, bypassing elected councillors entirely.

The drastic overhaul, mandated by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, comes into force on Saturday, October 31. The new rules aim to slash red tape and accelerate housebuilding by automating the approval process for developments that align with pre-approved Local Plans.

Two planning sub-committees covering the eastern and western areas of the East Riding will be abolished completely, holding their final meetings on October 27. Meanwhile, strategic planning committee membership in North Yorkshire will shrink from fifteen to thirteen councillors.

Liberal Democrat councillor Denis Healy, who represents St Mary’s Ward in the East Riding, warned the new system will silence residents.

"Local residents will no longer have a say. Councillors are a line of reason and the people’s voice in planning applications. This is the death of democracy. I just don’t understand why the government is getting rid of the old planning system because it was working well here. They are dismantling democracy and I’m not at all convinced it is going to ‘get Britain building’ anyway."

Standard housing schemes and minor developments will fall under a new 'Tier A' framework, handled strictly by officers with no legal right for councillors to request a public hearing. Larger 'Tier B' developments will carry a legal presumption of officer approval, requiring explicit agreement from both a chief planning officer and a committee chair to reach a public debate.

Independent councillor David Jeffreys, chair of the Western Area Planning Sub-Committee at East Riding Council, estimated that ninety-five per cent of planning applications already went through automatically.

"This is not a complaint about planning officers who are there to follow the rules. But people have to realise that local councillors could show common sense and give planning reasons to support or object to developments. These new rules take away people’s choices and decision making. I am so, so disappointed. The 27th of October is our last planning sub-committee, and I think that it will be a sad day for democracy. Many councillors feel the same, and there is a lot of unhappiness with MHCLG."

Elected members fear the loss of local knowledge. Recently, East Riding councillors successfully overruled planning officers to approve the transformation of the dilapidated RAOB Club in Goole, arguing the community benefits outweighed the site's flood risk.

Councillor Healy explained the importance of that intervention.

"We made a decision to overrule based on the strength of feeling from local people and we knew the massive benefits of returning an important historic building into active use. These factors outweighed the flood risk and our approval came with conditions around flood mitigation measures too."

Similar frustrations are echoing across North Yorkshire, where officials warn that decisions made by planning committees in breach of the new rules could face judicial review and be overturned.

North Yorkshire Council’s deputy leader, Councillor Mark Crane, criticised the reduction in democratic accountability.

"To be clear, this is not a decision of North Yorkshire Council. I think we’ve seen a growing emphasis, both from this government and the previous government, on decisions being made by officers rather than elected members. That is clearly because successive governments believe councillors are refusing too many planning applications. I think it’s a diminution of accountability for elected members. Elected members should have the opportunity to make more decisions, not fewer. I think it’s a shame the government is doing it, and I don’t think our experience in North Yorkshire justifies the government’s decision, because the vast majority of planning applications that go to planning committee are approved."

Green councillor Andy Brown echoed these fears, warning that communities will lose an effective voice against controversial proposals.

"The national government is removing all involvement of democratically elected councillors in planning decisions on developments of less than 10 houses and placing unelected planning officers in positions of near absolute power. This risks losing all opportunity for locally elected representatives to get the views of the local community properly heard. Trampling over local needs is not a simple way to free up development. It risks leaving ordinary people without any voice as developments that impact significantly on their lives are forced through by those who don’t understand the consequences."

Government officials maintain that democratic input is simply moving to the creation of the fifteen-year Local Plan, rather than individual applications.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government defended the changes.

"Our plans will modernise planning committees to improve efficiency over decisions so that planning applicants have the clarity they need, and we can deliver quicker for local people."

Despite these assurances, local representatives warn that expecting residents to predict specific development impacts years in advance is unrealistic, leaving unelected officers to face public scrutiny alone.

Councillor Jeffreys added that the government's target of building one and a half million homes is unachievable without proper infrastructure.

"Building supplier companies and construction companies are going to the wall around here, they just can’t make a profit. Now, I’m not saying that housebuilding is not important because of course it is. But it feels like the government is trying to railroad new housing. Where’s the infrastructure? There’s no doctors, if you haven’t got a car you are snookered. A lot of communities really have no infrastructure there to support them. After the next election, new councillors will have no idea how it used to go on, democracy going out the window."