From 1 November, extensions and schemes of up to nine homes in Richmond can no longer go to Planning Committee, and councillor call-in ends. What changes.

From 1 November, Richmond’s Planning Committee will no longer be allowed to decide household extensions or small housing schemes. Council officers will decide them instead. Ward councillors will also lose the power to “call in” an application for a public debate.

The change is national, not a choice by Richmond. It comes from new government regulations, the Town and Country Planning (Discharge of Local Planning Authority Functions) (England) Regulations 2026. They were made on 15 July and come into force on 31 October.

Councillors were asked to rewrite the council’s rules to fit at Full Council on 6 October. The same meeting heard a motion condemning the change. The minutes are not yet published.

What can no longer go to committee

The regulations split applications into two lists. Anything on the first list (Schedule 1) must be decided by an officer. It cannot be referred to councillors at all. That list includes:

  • householder applications, such as extensions, loft conversions and outbuildings
  • minor residential schemes: one to nine homes on a site smaller than half a hectare
  • minor commercial applications
  • applications for permission in principle
  • prior approval requests under permitted development rights

Councillors on the committee will still be able to decide applications on the second list (Schedule 2). That covers larger schemes, listed building consent, retrospective applications and changes to the conditions on those bigger permissions.

How a big application reaches committee now

Even a Schedule 2 application does not go to committee automatically. Under the council’s revised terms of reference, two conditions must be met:

  • the Executive Director of Growth and Place and the committee chair must both agree it should go
  • the application must raise economic, social or environmental issues of significance to the area, or significant planning matters

If the two of them disagree, an officer decides the application. A written record of every application considered for referral, with the reasons, will be reported to the committee every quarter.

The scale is large. The council’s report estimates that Richmond receives around 800 Schedule 2 applications a year. Officers and the chair will build a “triage system” to pick which of those are worth a public hearing. The report says the detailed arrangements will be published online, outside the council’s constitution, so they can be changed with experience.

What is ending: councillor call-in

Until now, a ward councillor could ask for an application to go to Planning Committee where there were material planning grounds. The council’s report says that arrangement “will no longer be compatible with the national framework”. It is being removed from Richmond’s Planning Protocol.

Some applications still have a route to councillors. An application made by a councillor, by a senior council officer, or by the Executive Director of Growth and Place can be referred if the chair and the executive director agree. So can a tree preservation order where an objection has not been withdrawn.

Speaking at committee

The new procedure rules set out how the public can still be heard on the applications that do reach committee:

Rule Detail
Deadline to register 12 noon the day before the meeting
Speakers Normally up to three for and three against
Time each Three minutes
Order Objectors first, then supporters, then councillors and MPs
If too many register Priority to direct neighbours and residents’ associations

The chair can allow more speakers on a significant application.

Why the council objects

The council published its objection in a news release on 7 October. Councillor Julia Neden-Watts, who chairs the Environment, Sustainability, Culture and Sports Committee, put the motion to Full Council.

“These changes to planning rules are not democratic,” she said. “They take away the voices of our residents.”

She added: “This blanket national approach solves a problem we do not have in our borough.”

The council also says the change will do little about the real barriers to building homes, pointing to schemes it has approved where work has not started. The government’s case is that the change will speed up decisions and housebuilding and make the system consistent. The regulations require the government to review how they are working by 31 October 2028.

What it means for you

  • If you are planning an extension: nothing changes about how you apply or about the planning rules your scheme is judged against. The decision will be made by an officer.
  • If you object to a neighbour’s extension or a small housing scheme: write to the case officer during the consultation period. Your written comment is now the main way to be heard. You will not be able to ask a councillor to take it to committee.
  • You can still contact your ward councillor. The planning protocol lets councillors raise issues with officers and pass views on. They can no longer force a public hearing.
  • On a bigger scheme: register to speak by noon the day before the meeting if it is listed for committee.

Track applications on the council’s planning search. Our planning in Richmond page covers how to comment.

Sources