A motion put to Dover District Council on 30 September 2026 sought to establish clearer public information and a transparent process for residents and councillors as new national planning delegation rules take effect on 31 October 2026.

Dover District Council considered a motion on 30 September 2026 responding to new national planning rules that come into force on 31 October 2026, which change how planning applications are categorised and who decides them.

What the new rules mean

The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025, which became law in December 2025, introduces a national scheme of delegation that classifies planning applications as either Schedule 1 or Schedule 2. The government published statutory guidance on the scheme in June 2026. Under the new framework, a ‘Gateway Test’ — carried out by a designated planning officer and a designated member — determines whether Schedule 2 applications are referred to a planning committee or decided by officers alone.

The motion, moved by Councillor C A Vinson, noted that the Local Government Association had written to ministers to express reservations about the plans, including what it described as significant reductions in the involvement of locally-elected councillors in the planning process. The motion stated that removing councillors’ ability “to discuss, debate, call in or vote on key developments in their localities could erode public trust in the planning system and local government itself”.

What the motion proposed

The motion called on the council to take four specific steps. First, that each planning application on the council’s online portal should show whether it has been classified as Schedule 1 or Schedule 2. Second, that the Gateway Test should only be carried out after the close of public consultation, so that responses from the public and statutory consultees can be taken into account before a scheduling decision is made.

Third, the motion proposed that a clear and transparent process be established for councillors and members of the public to submit evidence requesting that Schedule 2 applications be referred to the Planning Committee where they raise “an economic, social or environmental issue of significance to the local area, or a significant planning matter”. Fourth, it called for the council to publish, for each Schedule 2 application that passes the Gateway Test, whether it will be determined by the Planning Committee or by officers, along with the reasoning behind that assessment.

The Secretary of State is required by law to review the scheme by 31 October 2028 to assess its effectiveness.

The council had not published the minutes of the meeting at the time of writing, so the committee’s decision is not yet on the public record.

Sources

Top image: illustrative, computer-generated. Illustrative image generated by AI. This is not a photograph of Dover District Council’s chamber or any real council building.