Councils express concerns on coming government changes to planning process
Pblished Monday 10 August 2026
South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils have expressed concerns for the government reforms to planning committees set to come into force at the end of October 2026.
Cllr Emily Smith, Vale of White Horse District Council Cabinet Member for Planning Development, said: “We raised serious concerns on the proposed changes when the government went out to consultation last year. These reforms are unnecessary and will not improve the decision-making process. I’d particularly opposed the removal of the right of councillors to call in an application to committee.
“Well over 95% of planning applications are already determined by planning officers without coming before planning committee. Each year Vale’s planning committee determine around the 30-40 most complex and contentious applications in an open forum that allows opponents and supporters, including Town and Parish Councillors, to be heard.
“If this scheme was in operation, around 3/4 of applications that committee have heard in recent years would not have come to us.
“Whilst we appreciate the aim of the reforms are to provide consistency across the country and speed up the planning approval process, our fears remain now we face these changes coming into force – the new approach will weaken local democracy and local faith in the planning process.
“Ultimately though, we will have to bring in the changes and we’re working very hard to do what we can to make them work for our communities.”
Cllr Tony Worgan, South Oxfordshire District Council cabinet member for Housing and Planning Development Management, said: “The changes coming into force in October are a one-size-fits-all approach. Planning decisions are fundamentally local and a highly standardised system like this could erode the role of our elected members in representing community views and strip councillors of their democratic accountability. We need a certain degree of flexibility as we know our communities best.
“Our other worry is that the new process could place significant pressure on a small number of individuals within the councils. We don’t believe committee effectiveness can be determined by size alone. A mandatory cap on committee numbers may make it harder to achieve political balance and geographic representation.
“Our hands are now tied as the government enforces these rules across the country. We will work with our dedicated planning officers to implement the requirements – and do everything we can to make the best of a bad situation.”
The significant reforms to English council planning committees officially come into force on 31 October 2026.
The changes introduce a mandatory national scheme of delegation. Where previously, every local council created its own rules, the new system creates one standard rulebook for the whole country – with the aim of speeding up and streamlining the planning approval process.
From the beginning of November, most everyday planning applications will automatically be handed to professional planning officers to decide. Only very large, complex, or highly controversial projects are allowed to be decided by a planning committee. A smaller project can only be pushed up to the committee if it passes a strict “gateway test.” This means a local councillor must prove the project has a massive impact on the wider area, rather than just a few neighbours being unhappy.
It will also cap committee sizes at a maximum of 13 members and enforce strict planning training and certification requirements.
Councillors will discuss the changes and the required Constitution changes at two special council meetings planned for 23 September (Vale) and 24 September (South).
