Localism Act 2011 Receives Royal Assent...

We consider some of the more important aspects as it will affect planning decisions and the grant of planning permissions........

Local Authority Powers

Local authorities are provided with a general power of competence which will mean that they can do anything that an individual can do provided it is not specifically banned by other laws. It also appears to extend the ability of local authorities to charge for services which they provide (subject to specific restrictions).

In terms of planning decisions the powers which are most likely to be noticed are changes relating to predetermination; where applicants feel that local authority councillors have taken an active role in either promoting or opposing a particular development scheme and then vote on the decision. In those circumstances it will become very much more difficult to challenge such a decision on the basis of predetermination and bias, as such, early consideration will need to be given to whether