Development Control Committee

This section contains the following information about the Development Control Committee:

a) The Development Control Committee deals with applications for planning permission for mineral extraction and waste management developments and for development proposed by the County Council.

a) The Committee shall comprise twelve county councillors who are not in the Cabinet.

b) The quorum of the Committee shall be three.

c) Meetings are open to the public but they may be excluded where information of an exempt or confidential nature is being discussed – see Access to Information Rules.

d) All committee members must:

(i) Have undertaken mandatory training on the relevant law and procedures which relate to the Committee’s work; and

(ii) Undertake further mandatory training on an ongoing basis whilst they continue to be committee members.

e) Councillors, officers and members of the public must abide by the Protocol of Good Practice on Development Control Matters (lancashire.gov.uk).

a)   To determine applications for planning permission that fall within Schedule 2 of the National Scheme of Delegation of Planning Functions under sections 319ZZC to 319ZZF of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and the Town and Country Planning (Discharge of Local Planning Authority Functions) (England) Regulations 2026 (the Regulations). 

b)    The functions which fall within Schedule 2 of the Regulations are:

(i) applications for planning permission not listed in Schedule 1 of the Regulations.

(ii) applications for planning permission which would otherwise fall into Schedule 1 but are connected to a Schedule 2 application for listed building consent or for the variation or discharge of a condition on a listed building consent.

(iii) applications to develop land without compliance with conditions previously attached in respect of which the previous planning permission was a Schedule 2 planning permission (under section 73(1) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990).

(iv) applications for development which has already been carried out (under section 73A(1) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990).

(v) where it is related to a phase of development in a large (*) outline planning permissions, applications for reserves matters approvals (under Article 6 of the Town and County Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015).

(vi) where a local planning authority considers a planning obligation is connected to a Schedule 2 application, requests to agree to modify or discharge a planning obligation (under section 106A(1)(a) of the Town and County Planning Act 1990).

(vii) where a local planning authority considers a planning obligation is connected to a Schedule 2 application, application for modification or discharge of a planning obligation (under section 106A(3) of the Town and County Planning Act 1990.

(viii) applications for listed building consent (under section 10 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990).

(ix) applications for the variation or discharge of conditions of listed building consent (under section 19 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990).

(x) applications for advertisement consent (under regulation 9 of the Town and County Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007).

(xi) applications for consent under tree preservation orders (under regulation 16 of the Town and County Planning (Tree Preservation) (England) Regulations 2012.

(xii) where a local authority considers that the application for planning permission is connected to a Schedule 2 application for listed building consent or for the variation or discharge of a condition on a listed building consent.

(xiii) the application for planning permission is connected to a Schedule 2 application is made under section 73A of the Town and County Planning Act 1990.

In addition to the above the Development Control Committee also has the following powers:

(xiv) To exercise powers to enter into agreements for the execution of highway works under section 278 of the Highways Act 1980 in relation to development the subject of an application before the Committee for determination.

(xv) To exercise the function under section 34 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (Limestone Pavement Orders).

(xvi) To exercise powers to determine applications for Hazardous Substances Consent and related powers under sections 9 and 10 of the Planning (Hazardous Substances) Act 1990. To make any appointments to outside bodies to which the Council is entitled to have representation in connection with the discharge of any of the Committee’s functions.

(xvii) To authorise by Order the stopping up or diversion of footpaths or bridleways under sections 257 and 261 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

(xviii) To extinguish by Order public rights of way over land held for planning purposes under section 258 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

(xiv) To establish sub-committees to undertake any part of the Committee’s functions.

(xv) To receive a regular overview of the council's enforcement activity undertaken by officers relating to the committee's function.

c) An application can be referred to a committee or sub-committee only where:

(i) at least one of the criteria in regulation 5(3) of the Regulations is met or it is an own-interest application (regulation 6) of the Regulations; and

(ii) the nominated officer (Director of Environment and Planning, (or any successor post replacement role, or officer carrying out substantially the same functions and responsibilities or the nominee) and nominated member of the planning committee (Chair of the Development Control Committee) or nominee agree to the referral, or;

(iii) in the case of an Own-interest applications where the nominated officer and nominated member agree, they can be referred to the committee without the need for consideration of the criteria set out in regulation 5(3) of the Regulations.

d) A large outline planning permission for the purpose of the Regulations is an outline planning permission which grants permission for development involving the provision of at least 500 dwellings or a building or buildings where the floorspace to be created by the development is 50,000 square metres or more. A reserved matters application for such development must meet the criteria set out under regulation 5(3) of the Regulations for a committee to consider it.