The collapse in democratic oversight of planning across North Yorkshire must be rectified - George Jabbour

Since April, the new North Yorkshire Council has been responsible for all the services of the former eight authorities combined. Although planning is one of the key duties that the new Council has to provide, it has undergone a significant change in the way it is delivered.

Before local government reorganisation, district and borough councils such as Ryedale District Council, Harrogate Borough Council and Craven District Council used to process applications through their own Planning Committees of local Councillors. This offered the local democratic oversight necessary for the legitimacy of the planning process, which is critical in a county such as North Yorkshire.

I live in beautiful Ryedale, and this is where I was elected as a Councillor. As Vice Chair of the Joint Advisory Committee of the Howardian Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, I am proud of the stunning views and breathtaking landscapes that we are blessed with. I also know how important the open and transparent interaction that residents and communities have with Planning Committees is.

Planning Committees are formed from Councillors who represent areas within the locality that the Committee is responsible for. They meet regularly, review planning applications and make decisions.

The type of applications that Councillors usually consider are the ones that are not straightforward and therefore fall outside the powers of unelected Council Officers.

Generally speaking, the larger or more controversial a development is, the more likely it is that Councillors, rather than Council Officers, will consider the corresponding planning application before approval is granted. Since April however, numerous Councillors who were on Planning Committees in both the old and the new systems noticed that there has been a massive decline in the number of planning applications reviewed by elected Councillors.

This view has been shared by Councillors from various political parties and across several localities. To examine the situation, I went through the minutes of the Planning Committee of the former Ryedale District Council last year, during the six-month period from April to September 2022.

There has been a decrease of over 80 per cent this year.

The extent of the reduction has been so dramatic that two out of the six meetings that had been scheduled for the new North Yorkshire Council Planning Committee that covers Ryedale have been cancelled because of the lack of business to be conducted.

North Yorkshire Council Officers must take note of this striking democratic deficit and act to find a balanced approach to restore the transparency and accountability that our residents deserve.

George Jabbour is the councillor for Helmsley & Sinnington.