Reform UK-led Sunderland City Council has come to a decision to give powers over planning decisions to unelected council staff and to remove powers over planning decisions from councillors. The rules were changed at a meeting of Sunderland City Council on 17 September.
Consequently, council staff will from now on have a veto on whether or not controversial developments are debated and voted on in public or decided in private by members of the council staff.
It means that a number of decisions may now be decided behind closed doors and by unelected bureaucrats instead of in public at a planning committee. At the planning committee, local people are able to say what they think and the final decision is made by elected councillors. This could affect a number of decisions on issues such as converting family homes into Houses of Multiple Occupation.
It has also been noted that the agreed changes have not been forced on the council but rather were optional. Council staff have now been given a veto over the councillor who chairs the Council’s planning committee. This goes as far as removing the ability of councillors to attend the site of controversial developments in their area.
In the meeting on 17 September, opposition Lib Dem councillors called for a re-think, and opposed the changes, but the new powers for Sunderland council staff were approved, with 19 councillors in favour of a re-think, while 24 Sunderland Reform councillors voted to block a re-think.
Speaking after the meeting, Martin Haswell, Lib Dem councillor for Pallion and Ford commented:
“It is really disappointing that Reform voted to strip councillors and the public of their right to have their say on planning applications in their area.
“It means controversial decisions on plans for things like converting family homes into houses of multiple occupation, new build estates, solar farms or battery energy storage systems can be decided behind closed doors by council staff instead of in public and by elected councillors.
“I am not sure if this was done deliberately or because they hadn’t realised what council staff were trying to do. But whatever the reason, Reform UK bosses running Sunderland Council must urgently think again and restore the right for local people and local councillors to have a say over planning decisions in their communities”
Friends of Bylines Network
There has never been a greater need for grassroots journalism that investigates the stories that really matter, holds power to account and champions the voices of everyday citizens. We are proudly powered by volunteers but what we do isn’t free.
STAND WITH US for independent, citizen-led journalism that makes democracy stronger, and you will even get some exclusive benefits.
