Residents across Shortstown, Cardington, Cople and Cotton End are set to lose one of their most important ways of being heard on major planning applications, after Bedford Borough Council considered national changes to how planning decisions are made at Full Council last night (Wednesday 7 October).

Item 13.1 on the agenda, a review of the Council's Constitution, brought in the government's new national scheme of delegation. The law requires every council to adopt it by 31 October, so the Council had no real choice in the matter. But the changes are significant for every town and village in the borough.

What is changing

From 31 October, ward councillors will no longer be able to "call in" a planning application so that it is debated in public at Planning Committee. Instead:

  • Smaller major applications, including housing schemes of under 500 homes, will be decided by planning officers, with no route to committee at all.

  • Other applications will only go to committee if the Head of Planning and the Chair of the Planning Committee both agree.

  • Under the new scheme, a petition counts as just one letter of objection, however many residents sign it.

What this means locally

Cllr Leigh Coombs, Borough Councillor for Shortstown, Cardington, Cople and Cotton End, used the debate to speak up for residents.

He pointed to the 204 homes planned on the former DVSA site in Shortstown. The reserved matters application will now be decided by an officer, with no debate in the chamber and no chance for residents to be heard there. Leigh called in the original outline application, and while it was approved, the process brought the developer to the table with local representatives. That route has now gone.

The changes also affect the proposed Sheerhatch solar farm and battery storage site on Northill Road in Cople. Leigh called the application in to Planning Committee, and it has drawn objections from Cople, Willington and Northill parish councils and many residents. If it is not decided before 31 October, it may now never be debated in public at committee.

The borough also has no up to date Local Plan, which makes it harder to resist speculative applications from developers on land around our villages. With call-in gone, communities have even fewer defences.

What Leigh said

Speaking at the meeting, Leigh said:

"We were promised the red tape would be ripped out of our planning system. Well, it has been ripped out, and now it is being stuck straight across the mouths of the people we represent."

"Our planning officers do a difficult job and they do it well. This is not about them. It is about accountability. An officer can't be voted out. I can."

"I want it on record that I do not support the principle of this, and I will use every route still open to me to make sure the people of Shortstown, Cardington, Cople and Cotton End are still heard. Local democracy is not red tape, and I will not be gagged by it."

Speaking after the meeting, Leigh added:

"This is a decision made by central government, not by Bedford Borough Council, but it is our residents who will feel it. People in Cople have worked incredibly hard to make their voices heard on the solar farm, and they deserve to have it debated in public. It's really not on. I'll keep fighting for every one of our communities to have a proper say."

Get in touch

If you have concerns about a planning application in Shortstown, Cardington, Cople or Cotton End, email Leigh at leigh@shortstown.co.uk.