Councils to explore legal options after Government revokes planning powers

Housing and Planning Minister Matthew Pennycook informed Wychavon District Council and Malvern Hills District Council that the Secretary of State for Local Government, Steve Reed, had resolved to ‘designate’ them under Section 62A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 in a letter on Monday (15 June).

The decision means that applications for housing schemes with more than 10 homes, or those on sites of more than 0.5 hectares, or schemes with more than 1,000 square metres can be determined by the Planning Inspectorate instead of the local authorities, if the applicant chooses.

The designation also includes developments on land of more than 1 hectare.

The two local authorities share a number of services, including a planning service.

In a statement published by both councils, the two authorities “vowed to fight to overturn” the decision.

The comment added: “[The council] strongly disputes the Government’s decision and is now considering all options available to challenge it, including legal action.”

Both authorities said that their planning service has "much improved", pointing  to service transformations that took place following the appointment of its current planning director Ian MacLeod, in early 2024.

"Backlogs have been eliminated with further training provided to councillors with support from the Planning Advisory Service and a dedicated team created to oversee major applications," the statement said.

It added: "Data from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2026 shows just 5.2% of applications the council refused were allowed on appeal, while current performance is well below the 10 per cent designation threshold.

Cllr Emma Kearsey, Wychavon’s Executive Board Member for Planning, Infrastructure and Urban Design, said: “How dare they! This is an outrageous decision by a government that thinks it can simply dictate to local communities in complete defiance of the evidence and common sense.

“We have no problem with accountability. We do have an issue with a decision based on historic data that ignores the reality of the planning service we have today.

“What’s even more appalling is they have decided to do this when we have just adopted the South Worcestershire Development Plan Review, releasing over 25,000 homes for development and bringing forward major projects such as Wychavon Town at pace. This designation undermines their own ambitions for growth and housing delivery."

She added: "We will challenge this affront to local democracy and fight to return decisions on major planning applications to democratically elected councillors as soon as possible."

Cllr David Harrison, Portfolio Holder for Planning and Flooding at Malvern Hills District Council said: “This designation does not reflect the significant improvements made by our planning service in recent years. While we support accountability, it is disappointing that historic data has been used from as long ago as 2023 to reach a decision that does not represent current performance.

"We will be considering all available options to challenge the designation and demonstrate the progress that has been made."

The London Borough of Enfield – which is among the nine councils to have their planning powers revoked in respect to major developments – has also hit out at the decision, with its leader describing the decision as an “attack on local democracy”.

Despite the comment, Enfield has not said whether it plans to challenge the decision.

Adam Carey