Councillors and planning officers rebuild trust after bruising LDP row

Alec Doyle, Local Democracy Reporter

Wrexham’s planning department says it is rebuilding key relationships with councillors after Audit Wales described them as ‘fractured’.

Last year the organisation, which assesses and tracks how public money is spent in Wales, carried out a governance review of Wrexham Council’s planning department at the height of the dispute over the adoption of the Local Development Plan (LDP).

Councillors who opposed the LDP eventually won their fight to reject the plan – which included two controversial super-villages  – in the court of appeal and two weeks ago the supreme court threw out the Welsh Government’s appeal against that judgement.

But the row had a devastating impact on working relationships and trust between councillors and planning officers who found themselves on opposite sides of the argument. Audit Wales noted that had a detrimental effect on how the authority’s planning department functioned.

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Dissatisfaction 

“Member relationships with officers are fractured and professional officer advice is frequently undermined,” said the report.

“We observed members questioning professional officer advice when dissatisfied with officers’ explanations on planning policies. Members frequently undermine professional officers by requesting second opinions from external legal providers.

“The council needs to consider whether members are acting efficiently and with regard to value for money as well as how this behaviour impacts the well-being and resilience of officers.”

Audit Wales also found that: “Staff are reluctant to apply for more senior positions within development management and planning policy due to an awareness that those roles are subject to significant pressures from elected members.”

A year on however, and Wrexham County Borough Council’s Customers, Performance, Resources and Governance Scrutiny Committee has been told that trust is being rebuilt.

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'Much improved'

David Fitzsimon, Chief Officer for Economy and Planning, said: “I think we are in a much improved place as a planning committee. I think planning committee is conducted in a respectful manner.

“While there is challenge, there should be challenge in the right way. That hasn’t always been the case but I’ve certainly seen some very significant improvements in the last 12 months and I think the planning committee is working very well, as positively as I’ve ever seen in my career.”

Having not adopted the LDP, Wrexham Council is now seeking an urgent meeting with Welsh Government to identify a way to ensure it is meeting its statutory planning obligations without a formally adopted development plan.

Cllr Hugh Jones, Lead Member for Strategic Planning and Public Protection said: “All the evidence shows that we are meeting or exceeding Welsh Government targets.

“If the LDP is effectively removed we would normally fall back on the Unitary Development Plan (UDP) as a strategic framework.

“But given legislation is currently going through the Senedd to remove the UDP it’s important we meet with Welsh Government to plot a way forward.”