Fylde Council has approved a series of updates to its Constitution to ensure planning applications continue to be handled fairly, openly and in line with new national rules taking effect this autumn.
Members meeting on Tuesday 22 September agreed changes to Part 3 and Part 5d of the Constitution, paving the way for the Town and Country Planning (Discharge of Local Planning Authority Functions) (England) Regulations 2026, which come into force on Saturday 31 October.
The new national scheme means that only certain kinds of planning applications will be able to be considered by the Planning Committee, with the rest having to be determined by officers. To make sure local voices are still heard, the Council has built in a clear “gateway” process: every week, councillors will be sent a full list of relevant applications, giving them the chance to flag any that they believe should go before committee. While applications will still only be able to go to the committee if they meet government criteria, ward councillors will be able to make their case in person that an application should be decided by members.
Councillor Gavin Harrison, Chairman of the Planning Committee, said: “These changes are something the Council is being forced to adopt following a Government decision, not something we’ve chosen ourselves. We’ve tried as hard as we can to protect local democratic accountability – for example, by building in the ability for ward councillors to call in applications and appear at the Gateway Test, which goes further than many other authorities have done.
“It’s a significant change, and we’ll be keeping the new process under close review after 31 October. I’d like to thank Council officers for their work in putting these arrangements together.”
The updated arrangements will apply from Saturday 31 October, and existing safeguards around openness, fairness and member conduct in planning matters remain firmly in place.
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