Councillors warn new rules will strip elected members of powers to scrutinise major planning applications.
Cheshire West and Chester Conservative Councillors have condemned the Labour government’s new planning reforms, warning they will significantly reduce the ability of locally elected Councillors to scrutinise major development proposals and represent residents.
The reforms, due to take effect from 31 October 2026, will replace the Council’s existing Planning Committee Members’ Call-In Procedure with a new Referral Request Procedure.
Under the proposed changes, Councillors will no longer have the same ability to call applications in for consideration by the public-facing Planning Committee. Instead, applications will be subject to a “gateway test”, with decisions on whether they should be referred to Committee resting with a Nominated Officer and Nominated Member.
The proposals came before Cheshire West and Chester’s Planning Committee on Tuesday 1st September, with Conservative members expressing strong concerns about both the speed of the changes and the impact on local democratic accountability.
Cllr Razia Daniels (Handbridge Park, Con) told the Committee:
“I’m not comfortable with this, as I feel that, as a Councillor, I don’t/won’t have the right to call an application in, so I’m a little bit uncomfortable about it and I couldn’t understand why we have to endorse it.”
Council officers responded that the legislation was being implemented nationally and that the Council therefore needed to bring its Constitution into line with the new requirements.
Officers also confirmed that, where the Nominated Officer and Nominated Member disagreed over whether an application should be referred, the Nominated Officer would ultimately determine the outcome, based on planning reasons.
Cllr Gaynor Sinar (Davenham, Moulton and Kingsmead, Con) also raised concerns about the impact on Councillors’ ability to represent their constituents:
“This has come down from national Government, and to be honest, I don’t agree with the whole policy from the national government, so it restricts the ability as ward members to represent our residents.”
Following the meeting, Cllr Adrian Waddelove (Farndon, Con), Leader of the Cheshire West and Chester Conservative Group, said the reforms exposed a contradiction at the heart of the Labour government’s approach to local government:
“The Labour government talks the talk about devolving power to local people, but when it comes to planning, it is taking power away from locally elected Councillors and the communities they represent.
“Residents have a legitimate right to expect significant planning applications to be properly scrutinised in public by their elected representatives. These reforms weaken that democratic accountability and puts more power in the hands of a small number of individuals who will simply follow the government policy of the day.
“These planning reforms are regressive and centralising. Instead of strengthening local participation, they restrict the ability of ward Councillors to ensure that major developments are properly debated and that residents’ concerns are heard.
The Planning Committee subsequently endorsed the report by six votes (5 Labour Councillors and the Independent Councillor for Weaver and Cuddington) to three, with the three Conservative members voting against the proposals.
The changes will now be considered by Full Council on 15 October 2026, providing the opportunity for a substantive debate on the impact of the new planning arrangements and the future role of elected Councillors in local planning decisions.
