02 Nov 2026
Councillors in St Albans district no longer have an automatic right to call-in and decide planning applications at a committee meeting.
The change is the result of legislation which will see most applications determined by local authority planning officers without any councillor involvement.
Under a new National Scheme of Delegation, councillors are not allowed to call-in Schedule One application categories. These include routine home extensions and residential developments of fewer than 10 homes.
They will still be allowed to refer applications in Schedule Two categories such as applications for large scale residential or commercial developments.
However, the Government guidance is that even in these cases, the over-riding presumption is that applications should still be decided by officers.
Councillors who want to have an application referred to committee must now demonstrate it meets either or both Gateway Tests. The tests are that the application raises a major economic, environmental or social issue, or a significant planning matter.
A nominated officer and nominated councillor will decide whether that is the case and the application can go before a committee. Both need to agree or the referral will not go ahead and their decision is final.
In another move, the size of planning committees is to be restricted to no more than 13 councillors – the current size of SADC’s development management committee.
The aims of the reforms – which came into force last Saturday – are to speed up the planning process and bring greater consistency to decision making.
SADC leader Cllr Paul de Kort, chair of its planning policy and climate committee, said: “These changes, affecting every planning authority, represent a fundamental shift in how planning applications in our district will be decided.
“The idea is that committees should be focused on key proposals that will have a major impact on their area, rather than on supposedly minor or technical applications.
“While councillors will still be involved, it will mean that fewer applications will be considered before the development management committee and more decisions will be made by officers under delegated powers.
“We have an excellent team of highly professional planning officers who will be able to rise to the challenge, but this will inevitability result in less democratic oversight overall.
“Residents should be aware that their elected representatives will be deciding significantly fewer planning applications and, not necessarily, the most contentious in their neighbourhood.
“Like other local authorities across the country, we will be looking closely at how the changes are received by our residents and what impact they have on our communities in the years ahead.”
