Peterborough council's cabinet amended to protect impartiality in planning

Peterborough City Council’s (PCC) cabinet has been amended to protect its planning committee’s impartiality.

Council rules state that its cabinet member for housing, growth and regeneration can’t sit on its planning and environmental committee, which is bound to making fair, impartial and transparent decisions.

Cabinet advisors – a relatively new initiative at PCC – for the same post also can’t sit on the committee.

As such, Cllr Chris Harper (Peterborough First, Stanground South) is no longer cabinet advisor for housing, growth and regeneration – as he was initially appointed – but is now instead cabinet advisor for finance, legal and corporate services.

This means that he can remain as a member of PCC’s planning committee, of which he was previously chair.

The committee’s new chair is Cllr Amjad Iqbal (Labour, Central) and its deputy is Cllr Mohammed Jamil (Labour, Central).

These appointments were announced by Peterborough First in November after the party took over the council’s leadership from the Conservatives following a successful vote of no confidence in previous leader Cllr Wayne Fitzgerald (Conservatives, West) and his administration.

Cllr Peter Hiller (Peterborough First, Glinton and Castor) left the planning committee at this point and to become PCC’s cabinet member for housing, growth and regeneration.

Also appointed to the planning committee was Cllr Fitzgerald who had not previously been a member of this committee.

Party leaders Cllr Dennis Jones (Labour, Dogsthorpe) and Cllr Christian Hogg (Liberal Democrats, Fletton and Stanground) are also members of the committee.

But unlike in other areas of council work, councillors are not allowed to vote along party lines but instead must consider each planning application presented to them on its own merits.

Councillors are not allowed to be predetermined on any individual application before it’s presented to them and as such mustn’t be whipped – or told how to vote – by their party or anyone else.

They must also give reasons grounded in planning policy to refuse an application: it cannot simply be unpopular.

For this reason, long debates are often held at planning committee meetings, with each item ending with a vote.

It will next meet on 23rd January.