Bedfordshire Association of Town & Parish Councils (BATPC) has warned that local communities must not be sidelined over planning decisions under the Government’s new National Scheme of Delegation, which comes into force on 31 October 2026.
The new regulations are designed to ensure many more planning applications are determined by planning officers under delegated authority rather than elected councillors at public planning committee meetings. Existing arrangements at local planning authorities Bedford Borough and Central Bedfordshire Councils, under which decisions can be ‘called in’ for determination by committee, will be superseded by the restrictive new national rules.
However, parish and town councils remain statutory consultees for planning applications, and for certain types of application there is still scope for decisions to be taken democratically in public where the planning authority’s nominated officer and nominated councillor agree that there is a need for a committee decision.
In letters sent to Bedford Borough and Central Bedfordshire Council, BATPC has urged both principal authorities to ensure that, where parish and town councils raise important issues, those views are given appropriate weight when deciding whether applications should be referred to the committee and, in turn, when the application is determined.
The letters make the case that, in these newly restrictive conditions, it is more important than ever that planning authorities give proper weight to parish and town councils’ representations in the decision-making process.
Commenting, BATPC County Committee Chairman Cllr Madeline Russell said:
“Town and parish councils are the tier of local government closest to residents. They know their communities, understand local circumstances, and are best placed to identify the practical impacts that a development proposal may have on an area. Local knowledge and democratic accountability must not become casualties of the new government-imposed national conditions.”
“Where local councils raise significant issues on behalf of their communities, those concerns should be considered in public by elected, accountable councillors and not simply at a desk. Transparency, accountability and public confidence in the planning system depend upon local voices continuing to be heard.”