From 31 October, officers alone decide Dacorum extensions and schemes of up to nine homes. Nine of the last ten committee cases would have skipped councillors.
Dacorum councillors will lose the power to call in most planning applications from 31 October 2026. New national rules say routine and minor applications must be decided by council officers, with no committee vote.
The council’s own analysis shows how far that reaches. Of the ten applications heard at Dacorum’s last three planning committees, nine would have been decided by officers under the new rules. The tenth might have been too.
The changes go to Cabinet on Tuesday 6 October and then to Full Council, which meets on 21 October. The council has to rewrite its constitution before 31 October or risk its planning decisions being challenged in court (Cabinet report, National Scheme of Delegation, 6 October 2026).
What changes on 31 October
The rules are the Town and Country Planning (Discharge of Local Planning Authority Functions) (England) Regulations 2026. They were made on 15 July under the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025, and they apply to every planning authority in England.
They split applications into two groups.
- Schedule 1: always decided by officers. Councillors cannot send these to committee at all. They include householder applications such as extensions, and minor development, which the report describes as up to nine new homes.
- Schedule 2: decided by officers unless a “gateway” test is passed. Only two people can send one of these to committee: a nominated senior planning officer and a nominated councillor, and they must agree.
The gateway tests ask whether an application raises:
- an economic, social or environmental issue of significance to the local area, or
- a significant planning matter, having regard to the development plan
Government guidance says the starting presumption is that decisions are delegated, and only “exceptionally” referred to committee. If the officer and the councillor cannot agree, the officer decides.
The last three committees, under the new rules
The report runs every application from the May, June and July meetings of the Development Management Committee through the new test. Only the floodlights application might have needed a gateway assessment.
| Meeting | Application | Under the new rules |
|---|---|---|
| 21 May | Six floodlight columns and eight lights for an existing football pitch | Schedule 2: gateway assessment, might still be delegated |
| 21 May | Equestrian building to a three-bedroom self-build home | Schedule 1: officers only |
| 21 May | House to a residential care home | Schedule 1: officers only |
| 21 May | Demolition and six new houses | Schedule 1: officers only |
| 11 June | Commercial buildings to nine homes (outline) | Schedule 1: officers only |
| 11 June | Three four-bedroom detached houses | Schedule 1: officers only |
| 11 June | One house beside a pub, pub retained | Schedule 1: officers only |
| 11 June | Single storey front and rear extension | Schedule 1: officers only |
| 16 July | Two more Gypsy and Traveller pitches | Schedule 1: officers only |
| 16 July | Change to approved plans for a replacement home allowed on appeal | Schedule 1: officers only |
Source: table at paragraph 2.19 of the Cabinet report. Table by Hemel Hempstead Live.
The report says plainly that “there will undoubtedly be fewer applications being heard” at committee. It expects fewer meetings too. The calendar for the current year will not change, partly because some large applications are due this autumn and winter. Meeting frequency will be reviewed in January 2027.
How Dacorum plans to keep a local say
The council is proposing to go “no further than the Regulations require”. Under its plan:
- The nominated officer is the Head of Development Management, with the Assistant Director Planning as substitute.
- The nominated councillor is the chair of the Development Management Committee, with the vice-chair as substitute.
- Gateway assessments would be held at 2pm every second Wednesday on Teams.
- Ward councillors could ask for a gateway assessment on a Schedule 2 application, using a set form that states their view on the tests.
- A town or parish council that disagrees with officers would trigger a gateway assessment, rather than a committee hearing as now, for the Schedule 2 types where that already applies.
- Lobbying the nominated officer or councillor would be forbidden, and reported to the council’s Monitoring Officer.
- The decision record for each gateway assessment would be saved on the planning application file.
The committee itself must shrink. The rules cap planning committees at 13 members, and Dacorum’s has 14.
Applications the council makes itself, or in which a councillor or officer has an interest, carry on as now. They are either delegated or go straight to committee, with no gateway step.
Some examples from the report
The council set out how five typical cases would be handled.
- A two-storey rear extension with a parish council objection. Officers decide. It cannot go to committee.
- Seven new homes with strong local concern, and a ward councillor asking for a referral. Officers decide. As minor development it cannot be referred.
- Felling two protected trees, with a parish objection. Officers decide. Dacorum already delegates all tree applications.
- Demolishing a village’s last pub to build four homes, with no objections at all. The loss of the pub makes it Schedule 2, so a case officer can still refer it for a gateway assessment.
- A four-hectare solar farm that officers back and the parish opposes. This is major development with a contrary view, so it goes to a gateway assessment.
The deadline matters more than usual here
There is no transition period. The rules apply to every application still undecided on 31 October. The report gives an example: a ward councillor call-in for an application due at the October committee would fall away if that application slipped to November.
Dacorum is also under unusual scrutiny. The government designated the council for its handling of major applications on 15 June 2026, which we covered in our Hemel Hempstead planning news page. The report warns that being unable to issue decisions after 31 October would “run counter” to its efforts to be “de-designated from ‘special measures’”.
The Development Management Committee looked at the plans on 24 September. It asked for three additions:
- ward councillors to be told when a Schedule 2 application arrives
- written parameters for what counts as “significant”
- the nominated councillor’s and officer’s decisions to be recorded separately
The report says some members worried the last of these would put more pressure on the nominated councillor. The majority view was that it made the process more transparent.
What it means for you
If you object to a neighbour’s extension or a small housing scheme after 31 October, your objection still counts, but a council officer will weigh it, not a committee. The report says officers will have to respond to the concerns “clearly” in their written decision.
- Comment on the application itself. That is now the main way to be heard on smaller schemes. Live applications are listed on Dacorum’s planning portal.
- For larger schemes, contact your ward councillor early. Under Dacorum’s plan they can ask for a gateway assessment, but only through the formal referral route.
- Your town or parish council still matters on larger applications. Its contrary view triggers a gateway assessment.
Our Hemel Hempstead planning news page tracks the biggest schemes in the borough and where each one has got to.
Frequently asked questions
When do the new planning committee rules start in Dacorum?
On 31 October 2026, the date the national regulations come into force. Dacorum’s Cabinet considers the changes on 6 October and Full Council meets on 21 October.
Can my councillor still call in a planning application?
Not directly. For householder and minor applications, no. For larger ones, under Dacorum’s proposals a ward councillor can ask for a gateway assessment. The application then goes to committee only if the nominated officer and the committee chair agree it is significant.
Will fewer planning applications go to committee?
Yes. The council’s own test of its last three committees found nine of the ten applications would have been decided by officers alone.
Sources
- Dacorum Borough Council, Cabinet report: National Scheme of Delegation, 6 October 2026, for the regulations, the schedules, the gateway tests, the analysis of the May to July committees, the proposed procedures, the examples, the 13-member cap, the risks and the 24 September committee’s preferences.
- Cabinet agenda, 6 October 2026, for the meeting date and the appendices, including the proposed constitution wording and referral forms.
- Dacorum council meetings calendar, October 2026, for the Full Council date of 21 October.
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