Angry Wychavon vows to fight ‘outrageous’ sanction
Councillors in Wychavon have vowed to overturn a government decision over the performance of its planning department, after it became one of three Midlands councils stripped of decision making powers this week.
Councils in Malvern Hills, Staffordshire Moorlands and Wychavon have been issued with two-year notices of designation by housing minister, Matthew Pennycook, after data showed they had exceeded government targets on the speed and accuracy of decision making during the two year period ending on 31 March 2025, and subsequent appeals decisions to 31 December 2025.
The decision means that developers seeking planning permission for major schemes can bypass the council and go directly to the Planning Inspectorate seeking determination.
Local planning authorities are at risk if more than 10% of decisions are allowed by appeal, and a total of ten local planning authorities are now on the government’s watch list after this weeks announcements.
Wychavon reacted strongly to the decision yesterday after learning that 10.7% of its major decisions were allowed on appeal during the period, with Cllr Emma Kearsey, Wychavon’s executive board member for planning, infrastructure and urban design, adding that the authority was considering legal measures over the sanction.
She added that the authority had completed a significant restructure in its planning department which had brought it back within government guidelines on more recent data, describing the decision to place Wychavon on the list as an “affront to local democracy”.
“How dare they! This is an outrageous decision by a government that thinks it can simply dictate to local communities in complete defiance of the evidence and common sense,” she said.
“We have no problem with accountability. We do have an issue with a decision based on historic data that ignores the reality of the planning service we have today.
“What’s even more appalling is they have decided to do this when we have just adopted the South Worcestershire Development Plan Review, releasing over 25,000 homes for development and bringing forward major projects such as Wychavon Town at pace. This designation undermines their own ambitions for growth and housing delivery.
“Communities such as Drakes Broughton and Badsey have already endured levels of development that have fundamentally changed the character of those villages. The reward for councillors who stood up for those communities is apparently to have their decisions taken away from them by those in Westminster and handed to inspectors with no knowledge of Wychavon or the people who live here.”
Censuring the LPAs follows fresh government data on planning applications that shows only 261,700 decisions were granted in 2025, a 4% fall year-on-year.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government said that designations will remain in place until ministers are convinced that councils can turn around their poor performance and demonstrate they can make quality planning decisions.
MHCLG added that “this is part of a deliberate shift towards tougher national oversight of the planning system, with Ministers prepared to intervene where councils are not meeting expectations and hold them accountable for performance. It sends a clear signal that failure to deliver will no longer be tolerated”.
In a statement issued earlier today, Cllr David Harrison, portfolio holder for planning and flooding at Malvern Hills District Council, said the authority was “disappointed” with the decision, adding that it did not reflect improvements which had been made in the council’s planning department.
“While we support accountability, it is disappointing that historic data has been used from as long ago as 2023 to reach a decision that does not represent current performance,” he said.
“We will be considering all available options to challenge the designation and demonstrate the progress that has been made.”
Staffordshire Moorlands have been contacted for comment.
