OVER the coming months, Cornwall Council will be required to implement a major change to the way planning decisions are made. These changes come from national reforms to the planning system, with the stated aim of speeding up decision‑making and increasing housing delivery.

While the ambition to tackle the housing crisis is one I fully support, the way these reforms are being applied raises serious concerns about transparency, accountability, as well as the ability of local communities to have a meaningful voice in planning.

Under Labour’s new national scheme of delegation, which comes into force on October 31, a large category of planning applications will be placed into what is known as Schedule 1. These applications must be decided by officers and cannot go to committee under any circumstances. This includes householder applications, minor residential developments of up to nine homes, minor commercial schemes, and a range of other routine applications. Crucially, even if there is strong public interest or objection, these applications are barred from committee consideration.

The impact of this is significant. In the South East Cornwall Community Area Partnership, 48 per cent of applications that previously went to committee would now fall into Schedule 1. In other words, almost half of the cases where elected members were able to scrutinise proposals, ask questions, and represent local concerns will no longer have that democratic oversight. As vice chair of Liskeard Town Council’s planning committee, I see first‑hand how important it is for residents to feel heard. Removing this route risks undermining confidence in the planning system at a time when trust is already fragile.

Schedule 2 applications – which include major developments and more complex proposals – may still go to committee, but only if they pass a strict gateway test. This requires both the Chief Planning Officer and a nominated member to agree that referral is justified. Committee involvement becomes exceptional rather than routine. Again, this centralises decision‑making and reduces the ability of communities to ensure their concerns are properly examined.

Alongside this reduction in democratic scrutiny, there is another issue that deeply worries me: developer viability. Increasingly, developers agree to provide a certain level of affordable housing at the planning stage, only to return later claiming the scheme is no longer viable.

This often results in affordable housing numbers being reduced. In a county with 25,000 households on the Homechoice register and nearly 900 people in temporary accommodation, every affordable home matters. Decisions about viability should be transparent, robustly tested, and subject to member oversight. Under a more heavily delegated system, that safeguard risks being weakened.

Cornwall needs more homes, including genuinely affordable ones which the Liberal Democrats will always campaign for. However, we also need a planning system that is trusted, democratic and, ultimately, accountable. As these changes are implemented, I will continue to speak up for the residents of Liskeard and the wider area to ensure that their voices are not lost in the drive for speed and volume.