South Gloucestershire Labour is pleased to announce it has changed planning rules in the Council’s constitution to give residents more of a say in the process.

When we took office we promised greater public involvement in decision-making. Planning is one way we have looked to achieve this.

Under the changes, residents will now have a right to speak at site visits attended by councillors. Before, members of the public were only allowed to observe at site visits, not speak.

Also previously, the chair of a planning committee had a form of veto power, meaning they could block whether a planning decision would be referred up to elected councillors to discuss.

There’s been frustration in the past where residents have felt a decision was controversial, and needed a second look from councillors.

Blocking a planning decision from committee also denied residents the chance to speak for or against the application at the committee, often referred to informally as their “day in court”.

Now the chair’s veto has been abolished, with the decision of whether to refer a planning decision to committee coming down to a simple majority vote between the councillors on that committee.

Katie Cooper’s one of our Labour councillors for Staple Hill and Mangotsfield, and also chairs one of South Gloucestershire Council’s two planning committees.

She shot this video to explain the two changes in more detail 👇