Derbyshire planning law changes

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Members of the public and the officials they have elected to stand up for them will soon have far less of a say on planning applications decided across Derbyshire.

From October 31st 2026, all councils across the city and county, and the rest of the country, will follow new Labour Government-mandated planning laws.

Overall, the law changes, consulted on last year and opposed by many councils, including Derby City Council, aim to speed the planning process up in order to lead to more homes and other developments being built faster, to hit housing targets and provide an economic boost.

However, councillors have voiced distinct concerns that the changes will be the “death of democracy”, while also giving far more power to un-elected officials.

Far fewer planning applications will be brought before a committee of elected councillors to make a decision, meaning far fewer opportunities for members of the public to voice their concerns directly to their elected members in an open and transparent forum.

A side effect of this is that there will be far less of an ability for the media, including local press, to cover the views of elected officials and of members of the public.

Last year South Derbyshire District Council, the area with one of the largest housing booms outside of London, detailed that the changes would reduce the number of applications decided by councillors each year from 80 to 20, focusing on larger developments.

It aims to host planning meetings every six weeks, instead of monthly, with just two or three applications per session.

Schemes classed as “large” will still be decided by councillors, with this being defined as housing developments of 500 homes or more and buildings with a floorspace of 50,000 square metres or more  – with an average Aldi supermarket covering around 1,800 square metres and the Principality Stadium (Millenium Stadium) in Cardiff covering 40,000 square metres.

Council officers, not councillors, will make most of the decisions on planning applications, in line with policies adopted by elected officials and those enforced nationally.

This must include all:

• Minor listed building applications
• Householder applications (extensions)
• Minor commercial applications
• Minor residential applications (small numbers of homes)
• Revised versions of planning applications previously approved
• Non-material changes to planning applications
• Changes to Section 106 agreements (including payments for affordable housing, healthcare, roads and schools)
• Lawfulness of existing use or proposed use developments
• Biodiversity net-gain applications
• Reserved matters (final details) applications for schemes granted outline permission – for small and medium schemes
• Applications comprising permitted development

Applications that may be eligible for a decision by councillors have to pass a “gateway test” in which the chair of the planning committee – an elected councillor chosen by their peers – and a council’s head of planning – an unelected official – have to agree on the effective “call in”. If agreement cannot be reached between the two people, the application will be delegated to officers.

This has raised concerns that a large amount of power is effectively being handed to one councillor and one officer.

Councils which make decisions on applications that must be delegated to officers may experience those developments called in for judicial review in court, papers detail.

Meanwhile, not all large applications or developments filed by the deciding council itself have to be made by councillors and can also be delegated to officers.