Chorley plots escape from special measures

A nine-point action plan has been approved by the council as it fights to regain local control of its own planning decisions, having been punished for poor performance by Michael Gove last year.

The action plan covers record keeping, speed of decisions, member training, as well as updating the local plan. Of the nine actions, aimed at addressing “points of weakness,” there were four not yet implemented, three partially implemented and two implemented.

In late 2023, then secretary of state Gove placed the council in designated status because it had refused too many major applications and was exceeding targets for decisions overturned at appeal. The government target is to not exceed 10% and in the two years to March 2022, some 17.9% of refusals to major applications in Chorley had been allowed at appeal.

The designation meant that applicants could choose between applying to the national Planning Inspectorate to decide their application or go through the Chorley planning committee as normal.

Cllr Alistair Bradley, Labour leader of Chorley Council, said: “We were utterly appalled by the decision to designate Chorley for standing up against speculative and unplanned developments.

“The council, with the support from the MP for Chorley [speaker of the House, Lindsay Hoyle], time and time again tried to highlight the issues Chorley is facing when it comes to planning, and to make it clear how the former government’s changes to the planning rules had a negative effect on our communities.”

Bradley continued: “We’ve been honest with people that we have been fighting speculative development with one hand tied behind our back. We are not anti-development – far from it – we just think it should be locally led.”

However, Bradley explained that as it stands “no applicant has chosen to bypass the council’s planning system, choosing instead to honour their existing working relationships with us, demonstrating that the designation is merely something of a hollow threat.”

The local plan process involves Preston and South Ribble collaborating with Chorley to produce the Central Lancashire Local Plan. Submission of the local plan is expected in the middle of 2025, to be followed by a public inquiry into the local plan in the second half of the year.

The council said the number of major applications refused has been falling in the past two years – estimated to be 7.9% in the two years to April 2024 – and was achieving decisions within the statutory time period in 85% of applications, against the government target of 60%.

Angela Rayner, deputy prime minister and secretary of state for housing, local government and communities, will now be asked to approve the action plan before it is fully implemented.

Bradley continued: “While we are steadfast in our condemnation of the designation and have full confidence in our Planning Committee’s decision making, the action planning process is a requirement to get back to normal.”

The secretary of state normally makes decisions on designations once a year, although no expected date has been given by Chorley.

The council has also asked that the decision on a new prison be left out of the designation considerations. The council is awaiting the decision on an appeal for the proposed new prison at HMP Wymott in Ulnes Walton. A planning inspector dismissed the appeal but the government then asked for the public inquiry to be reopened.