It hasn’t got much publicity so you may not know that Government have decided to weaken the powers of local Councillors when it comes to planning matters.

This matters a lot because locally, we have the prospect of a large number of planning applications that many residents will likely object to.

Under existing rules, a Councillor has the ability to “call -in” planning applications so that they are discussed and decided by a planning committee, as opposed to a planning officer deciding the matter under a delegated authority.

Along with my Councillor colleagues, I lose this power at the end of the month. I think this is a matter of great regret because Councillors are elected, (unlike officers), with an expectation that they have a major say in the areas they represent and usually possess better local knowledge.

There are other provisions to the new laws such as limiting the size of planning committees to 13 members…no matter how big the area of the authority.

So much for “devolution”…. a classic example of top down central control telling locally elected authorities what they have to do, a one size fits all arrangement, regardless of local circumstances, or wishes. This is one of the very worst aspects of a Labour government.

We discussed these changes at Hampshire County Council this week and agreed to write to Government asking them to reconsider.

The very odd thing about this is that the new rules were intended to speed up the planning process and get Britain building more quickly. Not only does this give local wishes and knowledge a back seat, it pushes back environmental considerations.

It also wrongly assumes that the failure to build sufficient housing in recent years is down to the planning system. It isn’t. It’s the wrong diagnosis and the wrong medicine.