Seth Dellow considers the rise in non-determined applications as councillors demand a louder voice in decision-making
In recent months, the government’s Planning Inspectorate has approved two sizeable housing developments in north Dorset, for 67 new homes in the village of Marnhull and 41 retirement flats on the site of the former Shaftesbury Cattle Market.
It is the Inspectorate’s latest intervention, necessitated by Dorset Council’s failure to reach a decision within the minimum time frame of eight weeks.
The technical term “non-determination” refers to a local authority’s failure to determine a planning application within the statutory deadline. Those deadlines range from eight to 16 weeks, depending on the type of development under review.
Between July 2023 and 2024, nine planning applications (including those at Marnhull and Shaftesbury) were not determined by Dorset Council within the relevant time frame. This is an increase of six from the previous year. While not every applicant appeals to the Planning Inspectorate, the majority do.
Although such an appeal is free, it’s a lengthy process, which can take more than a year.
Objectors are concerned that appeals risk invalidating the issues raised by local residents, who submit comprehensive comments.
A catalogue of problems
However, Dorset Council’s planning system is by no means in the same situation as it was after the pandemic.
In 2021, the local authority issued an unprecedented public statement, explaining that its planning services were ’struggling with Covid demand.’ Only 72 per cent of planning applications had been decided in time, compared with the national average of 82 per cent.
This ‘pandemic backlog’ was further compounded by the exodus of 12 planning officers – those people charged with deciding the bulk of delegated planning applications, from tree felling to property extensions.
Dorset Council is also grappling with extensive delays in the publication of the county’s controversial Local Plan. Originally expected to be adopted in 2023/24, the plan is years behind schedule and is not now expected to be formally adopted until 2027. A draft local plan, published in 2021, outlined the need for 30,000 homes in the county by 2038.
In the interim, a Liberal Democrat administration has taken over Dorset Council and new proposals may be expected.
Being heard
Aside from delays, the local authority is also facing dismay from councillors. The latest disapproval stems from councillors’ complaints that their views are not being heard.
Currently, if any councillor – representing ward, town or parish – objects to a planning officer’s recommendation, a nominated officer may make the final decision. Pre-Covid, the application would have gone before the appropriate planning committee. At the heart of this issue is representation – or the lack of it. This is precisely why the new LibDem administration, led by Nick Ireland, in July proposed a recommendation, unanimously approved, that gives councillors ‘a stronger voice in triggering the referral of an application to a planning committee.’
All major applications may now be referred to the planning committee, when a councillor’s recommendation is different from that of the planning officer.
At present, only around two per cent of all applications go to committee – a fraction of the more than 12,000 planning decisions issued since Dorset Council became a unitary authority in 2019.
Challenges and questions
The problems in Dorset are symptomatic of a sluggish national planning system.
‘The latest Housing Pipeline Report from the Home Builders Federation, containing data supplied by Glenigan, shows that in the 12 months to March 2024, the number of new homes and sites given planning permission has continued to plummet. The year to March 2024 saw the fewest new housing sites consented than during any 12-month period since the data collection began in 2006, showing that the housing pipeline is significantly smaller now than it was even during the aftermath of the global financial crisis.’ – according to the HBF (Home Builders Federation) website.
An overwhelming majority of house builders – 93 per cent – cite the delays in securing planning permission as a major barrier to growth.
Does the new Labour government have the answers?
In its manifesto, Labour has promised to deliver 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament. Restoring mandatory housing targets, updating the National Policy Planning Framework and taking a brownfield-first approach are all part of the plan – along with the need for ‘tough action to ensure that planning authorities have up-to-date Local Plans’. But perhaps most significant for Dorset is the new government’s willingness to reform ‘nutrient neutrality’ rules – requiring measures to mitigate the
impact of the nutrient load from new developments as well as waste water – which currently prevent thousands of homes from being constructed.
A government spokesperson has indicated that ‘protection of the environment into the long term, investment in waste water treatment, green infrastructure and thinking at landscape scale is planned … Nutrients solution cannot be at the expense of
the natural environment,’ said the spokesman.
In a county with many new councillors and MPs from across the political spectrum, the political landscape this year contains new opportunities as well as challenges.
- Dorset Council was approached for comment, but did not respond.
