Planning Department Reviews - March/April 2023 Edition

The peer review of West Northamptonshire Council’s (WNC’s) planning service conducted by the Planning Advisory Service (PAS) has been published in the papers for the Cabinet meeting to be held on 11 April 2023 (See https://westnorthants.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=143&MId=696&Ver=4). The peer review was conducted in November 2022, and some of the recommendations in the report have already been implemented. The report highlights various areas of concern. With regards to parish and town councils the report says “The town and parish councils we heard from are incandescent with the planning service. Representatives told us that they were happy with the support that West Northamptonshire Council had given them in relation to producing neighbourhood plans. But the rest of the feedback from town and parish councils was very negative. They were extremely angry with a perceived lack of transparency and unwillingness to engage. They recognised that they

will not always get the planning decisions they want but they found that the council was unwilling to provide adequate responses and explanations about this.”

The report goes on to say “We were encouraged to see that, despite their reservations about being listened to, parish councils do still take the time to attend planning committees and make representations to the committee. Although, we heard that some are becoming so disillusioned with the service that they are considering withdrawing from responding to planning applications – clearly not a

good thing.”

The PAS review is accompanied by a “Planning Service Action Plan” that sets out how WNC will address the concerns raised in the review and how it intends to make significant improvements. The action plan highlights progress that has already been made since November 2022, including key personnel changes. 

North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) also used the Planning Advisory Service to conduct a review last year and the report and action plan were published with the Executive Committee papers for the meeting held on 22 December 2022 (See

https://northnorthants.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=142&MId=900&Ver=4). The report says “Relationships with town and parish councils are also mixed. Over 40 neighbourhood plans are in place or under development. Many town and parish councils reported good relationships with the planning service in developing their neighbourhood plans but concerns that policies are not always taken into account. There is widespread dissatisfaction about a lack of planning enforcement.”

Northants CALC is working with the heads of the planning departments at both unitary councils to develop ways to address the concerns related to engagement with parish and town councils raised by PAS. It will take years to make everything perfect, but the journey starts now and there are quick wins available. Further news will be disseminated in the coming months.