From 31 October 2026, the way local councils decide planning applications is changing. Central Government is bringing major planning reforms to Local Planning Authorities, including Bromley.
The purpose of the new legislation is to reduce the number of planning applications which go to councillors for review. Until now, councillors have been able to ‘call in’ any planning application in their Ward, so the application could be decided by a committee of councillors in public. This will change under the new legislation.
There will be two types of planning application
From 31 October 2026, all planning applications will fall into one of two categories, Schedule 1 and Schedule 2.
Schedule 1
Schedule 1 applications must be determined by planning officers themselves, through a procedure known as delegation. These are no longer decided by a committee of councillors. Residents will not be able to speak for or against any Schedule 1 application.
Schedule 1 applications will include:
- All householder applications
- Minor commercial developments
- Minor residential developments, for example, those with fewer than 10 units of housing, reserved matters for major planning applications with fewer than 500 units of housing
- Development of land without compliance with conditions previously attached
- Prior approval for permitted development rights and certificates of lawfulness of an existing use or development (where an applicant seeks to prove that a specific use, building work or activity on a piece of land is legal for planning purposes).
Schedule 2
Councillors will be able to apply to ‘call in’ Schedule 2 applications for decision by a planning committee. If a councillor wishes to apply for ‘call in’, they must do so within three weeks of the application appearing on the list.
Residents will be able to speak on the Schedule 2 applications that are selected to come before the committee.
Schedule 2 applications will include:
- Applications for planning permission which are not householder, minor commercial or minor residential applications, for example, major applications comprising 10 or more units of housing.
- 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.
- Reserved matters for applications with 500 or more units of housing.
- Retrospective planning applications or part-retrospective applications, for example, those where development has already begun but no planning permission was sought.
- Applications for listed building consent.
- Applications for advertisement consent.
- Applications for tree preservation orders
- ‘Own’ applications, for example, those where a councillor or council employee is the applicant.
- Councillors will be able to apply to ‘call in’ Schedule 2 applications for decision by a planning committee.
Even with Schedule 2 applications, there is a presumption that they will be decided under delegation. A Schedule 2 application will have to meet the ‘Gateway Test Criteria’ to go to a committee, meaning that both of the following requirements are met:
- Statutory Significance Criteria: The proposal must raise either:
- One or more issues of economic, social, or environmental significance to the local area, OR
- One or more significant planning matters having regard to the development plan and any other material considerations.
- Explicit Dual Agreement: The referral requires the formal, joint agreement of the chief planning officer or other senior planning officer and the planning committee chairman. The two nominated individuals will meet every two weeks or as necessary to decide which ‘call in’ applications go to committee.
No more than 13 elected representatives on the council planning committee
From 31 October a council planning committee should include no more than 13 elected representatives. These changes are to streamline the planning system and speed up decision times.
Bromley Council will retain its present Development Control Committee (reduced from 16 members) plus two planning sub-committee structures until the end May 2027, which is the end of the Council year. After that, there could be just one planning committee which will meet monthly to decide all applications. The intervening time will give the new system time to settle and see what, if any, adjustments are required.
This is a brief summary of the changes – visit the government website to read the full statutory guidance. If you have any concerns, do speak to your local councillors.
