Deputy council leader granted planning permission in error

Jacky Pendleton (Con, Middleton-On-Sea) and her husband applied for permission to make changes to their home in November 2021.

They were granted planning permission in January but it has since transpired that this broke council rules.

The error came to light when Mr and Mrs Pendleton tried to alter a planning condition and the permission has since been voided.

The council’s group head of planning did not have the authority to grant permission under ‘delegated authority’, which is often done for smaller, less controversial applications.

This is because applications made by councillors should always go before the planning committee.

A report before the committee on Wednesday (28 September) says the officer ‘could not have known’ the application was being made by an elected member because this was not declared on the application form.

Mrs Pendleton’s address – the same one that featured on the application – has been listed on the public register of councillor’s interests since 2020 and the planning application bears both Mr and Mrs Pendleton’s names.

Mrs Pendleton has since taken responsibility for the mistake.

“This was not necessarily a mistake by Arun District Council officers,” she said.

“My husband and I applied for planning permission through our architect and we had little to do with the application.

“Our architect did not tick the box saying I was a councillor by mistake and as a result the decision was taken by officers originally without the application going to committee.

“As soon as I realised that this procedure was incorrect, I alerted the officers who took immediate remedial action.

“It is unrealistic for planners, particularly if they are new to the organisation, to automatically recognise the name of every councillor.

“This was the fault of me and my husband not being alert to the inaccuracy.”

According to the council report: “It was considered that to do nothing was not an option as the decision goes to the heart of the council’s planning protocol and standards of conduct.”

As a result, the application (M/145/21/HH) will now be considered by the planning committee.