Sheffield Green Councillors have condemned Andy Burnham’s plans to allow Combined Authority Mayors to take powers from Council Planning Committees. The proposal helps big developers who submit planning applications with more than 150 homes, more than 15,000 square metres of commercial space or buildings over 30 metres tall.
Green Councillor Alexi Dimond, said,
“This proposal by the Prime Minister takes powers further away from Sheffielders on decisions that affect their local environment and their quality of life. Local Councils should have the power to turn down planning applications if they have good reasons to do so. Developers already have the right to appeal against decisions so the system is already stacked in their favour.
“It is developers who are blocking new developments, not Council Planning Committees. Councils have given planning permission for over 1.4 million new homes since 2007 that developers simply haven’t built. Taking powers away from Councils is not the answer. More pressure on developers is needed by the Government to get them to develop where they already have permission. This would help Labour to more easily achieve its target to build 1.5 million homes and put less pressure on local Councils to allocate land in the Green Belt for development.
Green Councillor Maroof Raouf, said
“This proposal to take planning powers away from local councils is deeply undemocratic. When South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard was last elected in 2024 he did not have these planning powers. There is no mandate from voters for him to make these decisions.
“Andy Burnham says he is in favour of Devolution but is it really Devolution when you take powers away from the local level and to a remote mayor? Rather it is centralising power in the hands of one individual and taking decisions further away from local people.”
