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20
Nov 2023
Council criticised for making 'nonsense' of Harrogate planning committees
The chair of the Harrogate and Knaresborough planning committee has strongly criticised North Yorkshire Council after another meeting was cancelled.
Planning committees comprise of a group of cross-party councillors who are supposed to meet each month to make decisions on the most important planning applications.
However, North Yorkshire Council has cancelled the next Harrogate and Knaresborough meeting scheduled this month due a lack of applications to consider.
Out of eight planned meetings, just four have taken place since North Yorkshire Council was created in April to replace Harrogate Borough Council as the lead planning authority.
North Yorkshire Council pledged to allow local councillors the ability to approve or refuse key applications but there have been concerns across the county that power has been concentrated centrally with unelected officers making the decisions instead.
The committee’s chair Pat Marsh, who represents Stray, Woodlands and Hookstone for the Liberal Democrats, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service this week that she believes the current system is “wrong” and is removing councillors from the decision-making process.
Councillors are able to call in applications to be considered by the planning committee but only if there are sound planning reasons.
Cllr Marsh said:
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Conservative vice chair of the committee Paul Haslam, who represents Bilton and Nidd Gorge, told the LDRS there is an ongoing review of the new planning committees and workload to ensure that they are deemed “fit for purpose.”
He said there has been recent meetings between the various chairs and vice-chairs and officers, where several reasons were given as to why there are fewer items going to committee.
Cllr Haslam said:
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