From 31 October three objections no longer send a Kensington application to committee. Five now trigger a private councillors' meeting; officers decide.
From Saturday 31 October, most planning applications in Kensington and Chelsea will be decided by council officers, however many neighbours object. Until now, three valid objections or a single councillor’s request was enough to put an application before a committee of councillors, in public.
The change comes from new national rules. The council has answered them with a new, private meeting where councillors can give their views before an officer decides. It calls itself the first council in the country to do this. The council said so in its announcement on 27 October.
Full Council agreed the changes on 21 October, according to the log of changes to the constitution.
What the national rules do
The Town and Country Planning (Discharge of Local Planning Authority Functions) (England) Regulations 2026 apply to every council in England from 31 October. They split applications into two lists.
The first list must always be decided by an officer. According to the council’s report to its Administration Committee, it includes:
- householder applications, such as extensions and loft conversions
- minor commercial developments
- minor residential schemes (the council says this means up to nine homes)
- certificates of lawfulness and non-material amendments
- prior approvals and applications made under a planning condition
- most reserved matters applications
The second list covers larger or more complex schemes, listed building consent, retrospective applications, advertisements and tree preservation order consents. These go to an officer too, unless two people both agree the application should go to committee.
Who decides whether a committee hears it
Those two people are the “nominated officer” and the “nominated member”. The council has named:
- nominated officer: the Director of Planning and Place, with four senior planning managers as substitutes
- nominated member: the chair of the Planning Committee, with the two vice-chairs as substitutes
They can send an application to committee only if it raises issues of “economic, social or environmental significance to the local area” or “significant planning matters”. If they cannot agree, an officer decides it. That is set out in the council’s new planning code of conduct, sections 20.01 to 20.08.
What changes for residents
| Before 31 October | From 31 October | |
|---|---|---|
| Three or more valid objections | Application went to committee | Not enough to trigger anything |
| Five or more objections | Application went to committee | Considered for the private councillors’ meeting, or for the committee test |
| A councillor asks, with a reason in writing | Application went to committee | Councillor must argue the national “significance” test in writing; two people decide |
| Who decides most applications | Committee or officer | Officer |
The “before” column comes from the council’s old scheme of delegation, which let the Director decide an application only when no councillor had called it in and fewer than three valid objections had arrived.
The new private meeting
The council’s answer is the Member Representation Meeting. Under the planning code it will:
- meet weekly, or as often as needed
- have four councillors: the Planning Committee chair or a vice-chair, one more member from each of the majority and opposition groups on the committee, and a ward councillor for the application
- look at applications with five or more objections, applications a councillor or officer asks it to see, and larger applications that are not going to committee
- take no vote; councillors’ views are recorded on the planning file and in the officer’s final report
The chair or a vice-chair picks which of the qualifying applications it looks at. The code says plainly that these “shall not be meetings in public under the Local Government Act 1972”. The council’s announcement does not mention that.
Cllr Johnny Thalassites, the lead member for planning, said: “Our councillors and residents know their neighbourhoods and understand the issues that matter, so we have found a practical, innovative way to make sure their voices continue to be heard while working within the new national rules.”
One committee instead of two
The council had two planning committees. The Planning Applications Committee is being abolished. The Planning Committee’s pool of councillors grows from 10 to 16, with five sitting at each meeting, according to the new terms of reference.
The Planning Applications Committee’s last scheduled meeting was on 20 October, when it refused four padel courts on Draycott Avenue against its officers’ advice, after 84 objections.
For very large schemes the size of the Kensal Canalside or Earl’s Court decisions, officers would consult the committee chair and hold a single-item agenda or an extra meeting, the report says.
What it means for you
- You can still comment. The council says the way you comment on an application is not changing, and your comments will be considered before a decision.
- Five matters more than three. If you and your neighbours object, five or more objections during the consultation period is now the number that puts an application in line for the councillors’ meeting.
- Write to your ward councillor. A councillor can ask for an application to be looked at, but must now set out in writing why it meets the national test.
- Expect fewer public hearings. Most decisions, including almost every extension and small conversion, will now be made by an officer and published on the council’s planning register.
Follow the latest applications on our Kensington planning page.
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