Public voice to be silenced on controversial Kirklees plans as committees are axed

Kirklees Council currently runs three committees at which members of the public and councillors representing them can speak and attempt to influence decisions.

But senior figures on the authority are looking to speed up the process by axing the number of committees where applications can be discussed.

That’s led to nervousness about the process and questions over whether the democratic element of planning is being weakened.

Speaking at a meeting of the council’s decision-making Cabinet Councillor Peter McBride (Lab, Dalton) said there was going to be “a re-think” of the three committees it currently operates and whether they were all necessary.

In response to a question from the Lib Dems’ CounJohn Lawson he commented: “Our measures to include the public are, if not extreme, unusually large by comparison with other local authorities.

“I think we’ve always got to draw a balance between, on the one hand, the democratic element and the efficiency element.

“I think we have perhaps over-erred on the democratic and insufficiently on the efficiency.

“Certainly that’s the view of developers who feel they are constrained by the degree of member involvement.”

Currently Kirklees runs the Strategic Planning Committee as well as sub-committees covering Huddersfield and Dewsbury. The latter is known as Heavy Woollen District.

In raising the issue Coun Lawson said it could be frustrating for members of the public whose access and input was limited, or when applications were delegated to officers to decide without the involvement of councillors.

He said: “I just wondered whether that democratic side of the planning service – the side that gives us robust decisions – is actually being weakened.”

Speaking after the meeting Coun Lawson said: “I asked Cabinet about the time-scales for the return of the Huddersfield and Heavy Woollen sub-committees as I was getting increasingly nervous about the opportunity for the public to take part in the process.

“As lockdown appears to lift and the construction sector starts to heat up again it doesn’t appear that the return to democratic engagement is keeping pace.

“Coun McBride’s answers suggested that the committees would be at the very least restructured if not reduced.

“I think that’s a mistake.

“It’s the public engagement that makes for robust decision-making. Without it confidence in the system is undermined.

“I’ve seen time and time again applications that have been correctly refused because of local knowledge that came to light at committee.

“The public need to have their say whether it’s an extension next door or a strategic industrial development.”

During part of the lockdown period when all council meetings were suspended planning decisions were made under emergency powers by a senior officer in conjunction with Coun Steve Hall, the chair of the Strategic Planning Committee.

Those powers ended when decision-making by committee resumed on June 3. However the two sub-committees are still not meeting.

The council was criticised for its slowness in setting up virtual meetings and for effectively excluding members of the public from decision-making on planning issues.

One Conservative councillor said it was undemocratic for officers rather than elected members to decide on potentially contentious planning matters.

Coun Lawson (Lib Dem, Cleckheaton) said confidence in the planning process was driven by public input.