Issue - meetings

PROPOSALS WITHIN THE GOVERNMENT CONSULTATION ON PLANNING APPLICATION FEES BE SUPPORTED.

Report CSD23058

The Committee considered a report outlining a Government consultation on planning application fees which were set at a national level and seeking Members’ views on the Local Authority’s response. 

The Assistant Director: Planning advised that the Government was proposing that planning application fees be increased alongside changes made to the existing performance management arrangements, including no longer including extensions of time.  The work of the Planning Service was currently subsidised by the Local Authority and there was a need to identify whether this subsidy would be adjusted in light of the additional fee income or whether the increased fees would allow for more investment in the Planning Service. 

Members discussed the proposal to create a deterrent for retrospective planning applications by doubling fees. While some Members felt this would provide a means to penalise those deliberately seeking to circumvent planning processes while not unduly penalising those making a genuine mistake, other Members felt the fee for retrospective planning applications should be higher.  A Member suggested that the Local Authority express support for Gareth Bacon MP’s 10 Minute Rule Bill on Unauthorised Development (Offences) that proposed that development without permission be made a criminal offence and the Committee agreed that this be included in the Local Authority’s response to the consultation. 

RESOLVED: That the proposals within the Government consultation on planning application fees be supported.