THE borough council has been told it must improve how it deals with planning applications or it will lose the power to decide where building can take place.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council has been warned by the Government that its ability to make major planning decisions could be removed after it was rated as the fifth worst-performing authority in the UK for having decisions overturned on appeal. 

Out of 49 major planning application decisions made by the authority between April 2020 and March 2022, 12.2 per cent were overturned on appeal in favour of developers.

Out of the 49, seven were overturned - three more than should have been if the council were to meet the performance criteria. This includes two appeals over the Camrose football ground applications.

READ MORE: Council among the worst in UK for having planning decisions overturned 

Fareham Borough Council were rated the worst with 20 per cent of 45 decisions overturned.

The Secretary of State for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove, has the power to designate local councils that underperform, where applicants would submit their major applications directly to the Secretary of State for decision.

Now, it has been revealed that a decision on whether to designate Basingstoke council will be 'made in due course'.  

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Residents and interested parties concerned will still be able to make queries, comments and submissions on these major applications if designated.

A DLUHC spokesperson said: “We are bringing forward measures through our Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill to speed up the planning process, ensuring local councils have the resources and ability to deliver faster decisions on major applications.

“We continue to work closely with councils to ensure the necessary improvements are made.”

Cabinet member for strategic planning and infrastructure, Cllr Andy Konieczko, said: “We have responded to the letter from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities that followed us missing the target for major decisions overturned on appeal by three between April 2020 and March 2022.

SEE MORE: How to get a digital version of the Basingstoke Gazette and back copies

"I believe we have given a robust response that has explained the context and outlined the steps that we have taken already to improve performance. We await DLUHC’s response on any next steps.

“I welcome the DLUHC’s acknowledgement that changes are needed to make the national planning process more effective. Speeding up decision-making is a laudable aim, but should not come at the expense of proper scrutiny and public engagement.

"Local planning authorities need more resources as recruiting planning experts is incredibly challenging in the current climate, so any measures that help with this would be very well received.”

The council said upon receiving the warning letter from the DLUHC it has put an improvement plan in place including looking at all aspects of the planning service, from the submission of major planning applications to the decisions being taken by the development control committee.

A review by the independent planning advisory service of the council's development control committee work and all involved in the decision-making process was also carried out.