Politicians warn Government has ‘declared war’ on Oxfordshire planning democracy

The county has major proposals currently going through planning processes, including for a theme park, immigration removal centre and a supercomputer “district”, along with minimum housing targets of close to 5,000 new homes per year under the government’s standard method.

Across the political spectrum, questions are being raised about the state of the democratic process, which will see the future of those developments determined, with suggestions that the cumulative impact of Government decisions is causing an “erosion of public faith”.

New regulations, set to come into force in October, will see fewer planning decisions made or called in by elected representatives, according to West Oxfordshire, South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District councils.

West Oxfordshire estimated that currently, around 95 per cent of planning applications are decided by officers rather than councillors, with 5 per cent going to committee annually.

But under the new ‘National Scheme of Delegation’, the local authorities have estimated this to fall to around 3 per cent.

This follows several Government decisions which have been described by local representatives as limiting community input into development decisions in their areas.

It also comes after the abolition announcement for Oxfordshire’s county, city and district councils under Local Government Reorganisation in a move the Government says will “streamline” services such as planning and lead to “stronger local leadership”.

Liberal Democrat MP for Bicester and Woodstock, Callum Miller, questioned why a Government which touts a will to “empower communities” has “side-lined” them in Oxfordshire.

He said: “Andy Burnham has said he wants to empower communities.

“Yet, at every turn, this Government’s decisions have consistently side-lined and overruled local communities across our area.

“The use of a Crown Development Order at Campsfield and the submission of an Urgent Crown Development Application at MOD Bicester show the Home Office bypassing local scrutiny.

“The heavy-handed decision to strip Cherwell of its major planning powers, alongside the Government’s imposition of politically convenient council boundaries, demonstrates that same contempt for the local communities affected.

“Despite the fact that these decisions are taken by different departments, it is clear that this Government will take decisions in Whitehall, seeing local voices as an inconvenience and expecting communities to accept the outcomes.

“Residents across our area expect consultation, openness and a fair opportunity to be heard.

“If the Prime Minister is serious about giving back power to communities, he must change this pattern across Government and ensure decisions affecting Oxfordshire are made with residents, not imposed upon them.”

Green county leader and Cherwell councillor Ian Middleton said: “Since coming to power, the Labour government has declared war on local planning democracy and set about systematically dismantling what little influence communities and their elected representatives have over developments that directly affect them.

“It’s hugely contradictory that, whilst claiming to want to devolve more power to councils at grassroots through local government reorganisation, they are simultaneously undermining the ability for them to meaningfully engage with one of the most visible aspects of local government.

“It seems like not a week goes by without another government edict clearly intended to eviscerate planning authorities and make them directly accountable to centralised control rather than the residents they serve.”

He believes the situation is “born of a misguided belief that planners and planning committees are blocking the government’s ill-conceived ambitions for relentless growth at any cost”.

Mr Middleton says this is not the case and “the fault lies with developers who drag their feet to game the market, along with a lack of vital infrastructure like water, sewerage and electricity, things the government should be directly addressing”.

He added: “The cumulative impact of all this is an erosion of public faith in a balanced and equitable planning system and a free charter for any landowner or developer to push through schemes that should otherwise be subject to far more stringent local scrutiny and control.”

Conservative county leader and West Oxfordshire councillor Liam Walker said he worries about the changes to planning, saying they could have a “huge and lasting impact on local communities ” and that he fears “local views could increasingly be ignored if fewer applications can be scrutinised by elected councillors”

He added: “With thousands of new homes proposed across West Oxfordshire, now is completely the wrong time to reduce democratic scrutiny of planning decisions.”

Announcing the changes to the planning system in March, the Minister of State for Housing and Planning, Matthew Pennycook said: “By setting out which planning functions should be delegated to planning officers for a decision and which should go instead to a planning committee or subcommittee, a national scheme of delegation will ensure greater consistency and certainty across England about who in a local planning authority will be responsible for making planning decisions.”

He said the regulations were “informed by the responses” to an earlier consultation.

However, Labour and Co-operative county and West Oxfordshire councillor Andrew Coles said he is less concerned about “whether a planning application is determined by council officer delegation or by councillors at a planning committee” as “they still have to adhere to the rules central government set”.

He is more worried about whether these rules enable the promotion of “the right type of housing,” allowing social and key worker housing to be built.

The Labour Oxford city council administration has said they believe the local government reorganisation decision will be a “turning point” which will enable that.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government was contacted for comment.

The government has previously denied “gerrymandering” over local government reorganisation and said the use of the Crown Development Route to expand Campsfield Immigration Removal Centre was due to its national importance.