Council faces big shake-up

Planning committee members in Mid Wales have come under fire in a new Government report. Now Powys County Council is set to radically overhaul its planning permission decision process.

According to a review by the Wales Audit Office (WAO), members of the council's Brecknockshire planning committee showed a lack of understanding, poor chairmanship and appeared to vote on a political group basis.

The WAO conducted an inspection of the planning department last summer with the aim of helping it provide a more efficient service. However, it found serious shortcomings.

A WAO spokesman said: "When we attended one of the planning committees in Brecknockshire we observed poor chairmanship with no leadership and members allowed to speak repeatedly on the same issue.

"We found some members of the committee either not understanding or not wishing to accept the role they are required to play in considering only planning matters."

The WAO's report says the council has admitted its planning service had been affected by a restructuring of the council.

Now the council is set to abolish its traditional three shire committee system of dealing with planning applications and replace it with a single body. Councillors were due to meet today to discuss the proposal.

At the moment three committees are in operation - one each for Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and Brecknockshire - involving all 73 councillors.

But the plans would see these replaced with one committee of 15 members elected by fellow councillors.

A council spokesman said: "Today, the council's board will be discussing whether or not to recommend to the full council that a single county planning committee be established in line with the WAO report."

He said the scheme would see the same committee deal with each shire's planning applications at separate meetings.

However, Councillor Michael Williams, of the Montgomeryshire Independent Group, said he was concerned. "Having a single committee would mean less councillors would get to vote on planning decisions for the whole of Powys, whereas at the moment we all get to have our say," he said.