Planning meetings to be webcast from Inverness
MAJOR changes to the Highland Council’s planning committee structure have been agreed.
At a meeting of the authority on Thursday members voted to reduce the current three planning application committees to two – one to cover the North and one for the south.
The new structure will come into effect in January. The membership of each will be made up of two members from a four-member council ward and one member from a three-member ward.
Local councillors will also be able to attend and have a local members’ vote on any relevant agenda items.
To enable the meetings to be webcast, both the committees will be held in the council’s headquarters in Inverness.
Supporting the recommendations of the cross-party governance review group, Councillor Ian Ross, chair of the planning, environment and development committee, said: "The remit of the group was to review performance, look for efficiencies and put forward recommendations to ensure we can provide the very best service. Financial savings were a consideration when coming to our restructuring recommendations but our primary focus was on getting the best quality of service.
"The decisions planning committees make are increasingly open to scrutiny and legal challenges. In order that councillors come to decisions that can stand up to robust internal and external scrutiny, access to professional advice and guidance from our staff during meetings is important.
"Public access to how we do business and come to decisions is also vital. Webcasting allows members of the public, stakeholders, agencies and businesses to follow proceedings wherever they are. As well as being able to watch committee meetings live, archived webcasts can be watched on our website.
"I believe this new structure will be fit for purpose with local members still very much at the heart of decision-making. Another important bonus is that meetings will be held monthly so people will find the planning application process is speeded up."
The North committee will involve wards in Caithness, Sutherland, East Ross, the Black Isle and Skye, while the south will cover those in Inverness, Lochaber, Nairn and Badenoch and Strathspey.
A commitment was given to monitor and review the work of the two new committees within a 12-month period.
Members also agreed with the governance review group’s recommendation to consolidate the work of the land, environment and sustainability strategy group, the climate change working group and the community benefits working group.
A new rural affairs and climate change strategy group will come into effect from January. Fifteen councillors representing the political membership of the council will sit on this new working group and the chair will be agreed at the December meeting of the council.
* See more on this story in Wednesday’s Caithness Courier.