Council sets out four year plan to 'modernise' planning service and provide 'faster and more reliable' decisions

The Reform UK cabinet approved a new action plan to upgrade planning services, including a drive to improve communications, a commitment to build up and invest in planning staff, provide digital transformation for customers, and complete work on validating legacy Section 106 funding.

The officer’s report said the plan, which will run from 2026 to 2030, will modernise the planning service and ensure it “provides a consistent, high-quality and high-performing service to its customers”.

Speaking at the cabinet meeting on March 10, Independent councillor Ian McCord pulled apart the proposed improvement plan, as well as previous planning transformation works.

“[The planning service] went from awful to terrible, have since improved to merely poor, and today aspires to the giddy heights of mediocrity,” he told council members.

“The report before us insists that everything is broadly fine and that only minor adjustments are required.

“It does not recognise the daily frustrations faced by members, applicants, parishes and residents. We have issues with behaviour, culture, responsiveness, consistency, performance and basic service delivery.

“Turning to the plan itself, it contains no meaningful goals, no measurable milestones and targets stretching over years rather than months.”

WNC has said that major improvements have already been made in recent years, with 95 percent of all major applications in 2025 determined within the agreed timescales. It handled more than 4,300 planning applications and 1,760 building control applications last year.

However, Cllr McCord disputed the council’s performance figures, saying that most applications are forced into agreeing extensions, which leaves the statistics “meaningless”. He told the chamber that there was a backlog of almost 700 applications still outstanding from 2025, and a further 200 more dating back between 2024 and 2020.

The cabinet member for housing, Councillor Charlie Hastie, also shared an experience of a resident in his ward waiting over a year for a “simple planning application”, and said there was a need to be more transparent and manage expectations for people using the service.

Executive director of place economy and environment at WNC, Stuart Timmiss, said: “There are challenges in terms of backlog, there are challenges in terms of meeting the requirements, and the use of extensions is one which is nationally understood.

“We do accept there is significant opportunities to improve the service – that’s what I am confident this plan will achieve. We are absolutely clear that there is much more we need to do in communication.”

Mr Timmiss said that a more detailed action plan with key performance indicators would be created once the transformation plan had been approved.

Councillor Thomas Manning, cabinet member for planning and communities, added: “What this means for the public is that people can expect faster and more reliable planning decisions, more accessible and responsive service with better use of technology and continued improvements to how the council supports development and protects local places.”

WNC says that it will monitor the action plan through weekly reviews of performance against national targets, providing monthly progress updates to senior leaders, and quarterly updates through to cabinet and full council.

The Planning Advisory Service will undertake another peer review in late 2026 to provide independent feedback.