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Nov
99.65% of Harrogate and Knaresborough planning decisions made behind closed doors
A Stray Ferret freedom of information investigation has raised fundamental concerns about transparency and democracy in the planning system in Harrogate and Knaresborough.
Our findings reveal 99.65% of planning applications in the two towns last year were decided behind closed doors by professional planning officers rather than by elected councillors on planning committees that meet in public.
It has led to the chair of the Harrogate and Knaresborough area planning committee questioning whether the committee will continue in its current form.
With the government introducing new planning rules on October 31 that will further reduce the number of decisions made by planning committees, our investigation poses key questions about local planning.
Ramping up development
When people want to carry out development projects such as building houses, extending homes or converting barns, they apply to the local planning authority for permission.
The vast majority of decisions are made by council planning officers with expertise of planning law.
But traditionally bigger, more controversial schemes, such as major housing developments, go before a planning committee consisting of elected councillors, who weigh up the evidence and make decisions at public meetings.
The Harrogate Spring Water application was determined by planning committee on April 17, 2026.
Most councillors do not have detailed knowledge of planning law, but the system allows elected members to make decisions on behalf of the local community.
But with the government keen to ramp up development, more applications are being made by planning officers away from the public glare.
Nationally, the percentage of applications delegated to planning officers has increased from 75% in 2000 to 96% in 2024.
This speeds up the process and can stop councillors, mindful of being re-elected, rejecting schemes on spurious planning grounds to gain popularity, which can lead to costly appeals.
However, the number of decisions in Harrogate and Knaresborough going to the planning committee has shrunk to almost zero.
Figures revealed — eventually
After frequent cancellations of North Yorkshire Council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough area planning committee, the Stray Ferret submitted a freedom of information request to the council on July 13 asking for a breakdown of how many planning applications have been determined by the planning committee and by planning officers over each of the last 10 years.
The council initially claimed the information was exempt from disclosure but after we challenged this, it changed its mind and sent the following information, which relates to planning applications that were permitted or refused.
A chart showing the number of decisions in Harrogate and Knaresborough made by officers and planning committees.
The statistics reveal just six planning applications, or 0.35%, were decided by planning committee last year — well below the national average. By contrast, 1,701 applications, or 99.65%, were determined by planning officers
Ten years ago, 47 of 1,370 planning applications — 3.43% — were adjudicated by planning committees.
The six planning committee decisions listed in Harrogate and Knaresborough last year were:
Harrogate Sports and Fitness Centre — two covered padel tennis courts and temporary parking.
Harrogate College — demolition of existing building and construction of new teaching and workshop buildings.
Chapel Hill, Boroughbridge — Construction of 195 homes
Harrogate Spring Water — Reserved matters for an extension to the bottling facility
Harrogate West Business Park — Extension of 10 industrial units
12 Iles Lane, Knaresborough — Construction of two dwellings
Cllr Chris Aldred
'Less local decision making'
We put the findings to Cllr Chris Aldred, the Liberal Democrat chair of the seven-person Harrogate and Knaresborough planning committee.
Cllr Aldred said committee minutes showed it dealt with seven applications rather than six last year. He also pointed out that some applications that would have gone to local committees now go to the council’s new strategic planning committee, which oversees major applications.
Notwithstanding this, he said:
Unfortunately, the direction of travel in planning legislation is very clear from these changes – less local decision making from people who actually live in the areas affected.
I don’t personally see North Yorkshire’s local planning committees continuing for much longer as they are now but because of the changes introduced in the National Planning Policy Framework and other proposals from the Labour government. We will undoubtedly end up with less local decision making, which is a tad ironic from a government fronted by a Prime Minister who claims to want to devolve decision making rather than centralise it.
'Councillors are refusing too many planning applications'
With Labour committed to building 1.5 million homes in this parliamentary term, the trend is likely to continue.
A government policy paper in February said it “wants to make sure that skilled planning officers in local authorities are given the appropriate amount of trust and empowerment”.
Ministers subsequently revised the National Planning Policy Framework in August to accelerate housebuilding and on October 31 introduced a National Scheme of Delegation of Planning Functions that imposes strict criteria on which applications go to committee.
Cllr Mark Crane.
Cllr Mark Crane, North Yorkshire Council’s Conservative deputy leader, said it amounted to a reduction in democratic accountability.
He said:
To be clear, this is not a decision of North Yorkshire Council. I think we’ve seen a growing emphasis, both from this government and the previous government, on decisions being made by officers rather than elected members. That is clearly because successive governments believe councillors are refusing too many planning applications.
Green councillor Andy Brown said the move “risks losing all opportunity for locally elected representatives to get the views of the local community properly heard”, adding: “Trampling over local needs is not a simple way to free up development. It risks leaving ordinary people without any voice.”
Protestors at the October 2025 planning committee meeting.
'Undue pressure'
Ripon campaigner Brian McHugh, who knows the planning system well, said planning officers were “highly knowledgeable and highly skilled people” and using them to decide minor applications speeded up the process.
But he too is concerned:
When major applications are being considered which impact communities more however, it is important that communities are represented through a planning committee. This way, there is more transparency, less suggestion of undue pressure on one individual, and democracy is served more through elected representatives being part of the process.
The expertise of the planning officers remains an integral part of an informed process, but councillors are more accountable to their voters if they decide major projects and can be voted out if proposals are unwelcome. People know their councillors, they don't know their local planning officer.
The Home Builders Federation, which represents housebuilders, supports delegating more applications. The government says the changes will enable officers to determine applications more quickly and allow committees to focus on larger and more complex developments.
But the changes raise questions over whether area planning committees will continue to exist after North Yorkshire Council elections in May — and whether a key aspect of local democracy is being eroded.
What's your view? Tell us in the comments below.
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