Agenda item

-        Strategic Director of Environment and Development Services to report.

Councillor Smith, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Environment, introduced a report by the Strategic Director of Environment and Development Services, which proposed changes to membership of the Planning Board to accommodate requirements of implementing Development Management.

The principle behind the move to Development Management was to further modernise the Planning Service and to ensure a problem-solving approach to planning in addition to more familiar development control activities being offered.

Achieving objectives for development management would require the Planning Service to be more proactive and delivery focused, whilst being better aligned with other strategic functions, including plan-making.  Aspects of development management had already been adopted in the Planning Service through a significant increase in pre-application discussions and an increased role for Members would allow for further development in this service.

There was evidence from Planning Advisory Service research that a traditional, larger Planning Board tended to be less separated from its constituency role and had a greater tendency to depart from planning policy as Members did not feel that they have a special role in determining applications for the wider Council.

Conversely members of a smaller Board were much more likely to take impartial decisions based on material planning considerations being more streamlined with a more strategic focus.

Rotherham’s Planning Board was initially established to be made up of representatives from each ward and, therefore, consideration had been given to moving away from this arrangement in order to facilitate these aims.

It was also suggested by Planning Board Members that the profile of planning could be raised with a commitment to both attendance and training by Board Members to ensure consistency in decision making. There was the potential to implement this proposal and move away from the historical ward representation at Board in May, 2011 when a number of Board Members were due to stand down. The proposal was, therefore, that Planning Board be made up of fourteen members – two from each Area Assembly area with provision for a substitute from each area as necessary.

There would clearly be an impact by the Localism Bill and these initiatives clearly allowed Members to take a much more active role in the development process and pave the way for a move to achieve the aims of the Localism Bill generally and Development Management.

The aim of this suggestion was to build a good, strong Planning Board with a core group of Members. This, together with involvement at a pre-application stage, would provide an enhanced service for developers and assist with the Council’s regeneration priorities.

There were no direct financial implications arising from the report

The proposals reduced the risk to the Local Planning Authority of potential legal challenge by increasing the role for Members in the planning process in accordance with Government advice and putting in place appropriate measures to accommodate the requirements of the Localism Bill.

Recommended:-  (1)  That the Planning Board be made up of two Members per Area Assembly (and an allocated substitute) and changes be implemented in May, 2011

(2)  That the implementation of Development Management be approved.

(3)  That an enhanced Planning Board Member Training Programme, developed in conjunction with the Members’ Training and Development Panel, including code of practice be approved.