Changes to national legislation relating to how planning applications are determined have been put into practice in County Durham.
To comply with the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025, Durham County Council must adopt a national scheme of delegation, which requires more applications – including minor household, residential and commercial developments – to be determined by officers. The aim is to create a more consistent approach to determining planning applications across England.
Under the Act, which comes into force on Saturday 31 October, councils in England must also limit the number of members on planning committees to 13.
Durham County Council previously had four planning committees operating across the county with 12 seats each and 48 members in total. This has been replaced with a single committee with 11 seats.
The council opted for 11 members rather than 12 or 13 as this supports more focused debate, maintains political balance and enables timely decision making. Having an odd number of members also helps to ensure majority decisions can be reached when needed.
The new legislation has provided an opportunity for the council to create a new single committee to consider planning applications and matters relating to highways, rights of way, common land and town and village greens.
The new planning and highways committee will meet monthly to discuss planning matters and quarterly to discuss highways matters. This will reduce the total number of meetings from 52 a year to 16, lowering the associated costs and demands on council resources. It will also help to ensure a more efficient and joined up approach to decision-making across these two connected areas.
While more applications will now be determined by officers under delegated powers, planning applications that meet specific criteria may also be referred to the committee, including:
- Applications made by the council itself or jointly with partner organisations.
- Major housing and commercial developments that raise issues of economic, social or environmental significance for the local area, or involve significant planning considerations.
Cllr Andrew Husband, Leader of Durham County Council, said: “The changes we are introducing to our planning committee structure are in response to legislation set by national government.
“We know that transparency, efficiency and timeliness are crucial to an effective planning system and we remain committed to delivering this in County Durham.”
