TAMESIDE’S planning system is believed to have ground to a halt after Councillors voted to reject new regulations for the second time.
A total of 29 members voted against implementing the Government’s new National Scheme of Delegation, which came into effect on October 31.
With only 26 voting for, that means the council is effectively breaking the law, joining Bolton, Fenland in Cambridgeshire and Central Bedfordshire in snubbing the statutory constitutional updates required by the Planning and Infrastructure act 2025.
The new powers would move what are deemed ‘more minor, householder, and small residential planning decisions’ from the Speaker’s Panel (Planning) committee to unelected officers.
But The Correspondent has been told that decision, made at a meeting of Tameside’s full council on Tuesday, November 3, means no calls can be made.
And until guidance is sought on where it stands, nothing can change, meaning a backlog of applications – which can be accepted but not ruled on – is set to build.
Demonstrators made the voices heard outside the Dukinfield Town Hall meeting and opponents put their case forward.
Reform UK members repeatedly made reference to houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) – although these new rules refer to all applications.
Group leader Cllr Allan Hopwood, who singled out Ashton-under-Lyne MP Angela Rayner for her role in bringing the legislation, said: “Out glorious leader Andy Burnham said that he was going to be a big advocate for devolution. This absolutely flies in the face of that.
“We are the acid test on the ground. When we speak to the residents, we hear what they want, we give them what they want.
“And we are the connection between residents and the officers that deal with these planning applications. If you remove us from that, that’s completely isolating any officers from any kind of local scrutiny whatsoever. That’s not acceptable.
“We’ve got too many HMOs creeping up all over the place already, as we know. Nobody’s happy about that. We’ve seen the results of that now.
“As local government, our place is to say, ‘Look, it’s not working.’
“Sometimes the law gets it wrong, and we know through history, many, many times, when it’s got it wrong, people have spoken up and stood up. That’s what we’re doing here.
“I’s up to us to say, ‘Andy Burnham, we’re not having it. Angela Rayner, we’re not having it. We do not want this. We want to represent our residents.’
“Who are they going to come to when they’ve got an HMO next door to them that they don’t want? They’re going to come to us. We’re going to carry the can for that. Not Andy Burnham, not Angela Rayner, not the monitoring officer.”
Party colleague Cllr Jake Frater made specific reference to a retrospective HMO application on Arundel Street in Ashton, which was unanimously rejected after hearing tales of how a naked man is regularly seen at a window.
He said, after Cllr Stephen Homer referred to HMOs and calling the Labour group ‘you guys’: “Guess what the officer’s recommendation was for that? To pass it through. That was their recommendation.
“What we do, something that obviously you guys don’t seem to do very often, is listen to the people out there.
“The only ones that want it to happen are you. Not one of you have got any sort of fortitude about it to go, ‘Do you know what, I’m going to stick up for the residents who actually put me in this position, and I’m not going to back it or abstain.;
“It’s an absolute disgrace. You are pushing this through. There’s no doubt about that.
“It’s all your way or the highway and that’s not happening anymore. You’ve got to realise that you are not in full control anymore.
“You do not listen to the residents. We are here listening to the residents. We’ve got the Conservatives listening to the residents, we’ve got the Independents listening to the residents.
“When is it that you lot are going to wake up and go, ‘Do you know what, we’ve done something wrong and we need to change it?’”
Tameside Council’s former leader, now Independent Cllr Ged Cooney added: “This is the Parliament of Tameside.
“You will speak for the people and it’s about our right in the democratic process to stand here tonight and debate whether we agree or disagree.
“This will take this away from us. It’s our democratic right to be here or in planning or wherever. Not people behind closed doors. This is our parliament.”
Members of the Labour minority administration backed adopting the new rules.
Cllr Homer said: “The law is clear. We’ve got to implement this.
“Whether we like it or not, we have got to implement this. We’ve got to incorporate it into our constitution. We’ve got to do it, otherwise we’re acting illegally. Our planning department will cease.
“It won’t be able to carry out any work at all until we have resolved this matter. And that affects our residents too.
“This is not about HMOs. You know, let’s not dress this up as another tool to attack HMOs. This is not about HMOs.
“This is about implementing the law. We don’t pick and choose which laws we obey in this country.”
Deputy leader Cllr Andrew McLaren added: “Lots of councillors are hacked off of it. I absolutely share that.
“Lots and lots of councillors are really hacked off of this because it’s clearly something that’s impinging on the responsibilities and duties that they once had, and they’re not going to be quite the same. No one’s lying about that.
“So please don’t think this is Labour versus Reform, Labour versus Tory. It’s not. There’s hundreds and hundreds of councillors throughout this country who are absolutely gritting their teeth and voting this through simply because it’s the law.
“And if you don’t obey the law, you’ll lack credibility for a start in the market, and with people who want to invest in things.”
Leader Cllr Eleanor Wills stated: “It’s fair to say that we stand at a critical crossroads for the future of Tameside.
“Change is difficult, and the desire to protect local democratic scrutiny is something every single one of us shares.
“But leadership requires us to look at the hard-hull facts of where that vote has left our borough today.
“As of October 31, the National Scheme of Delegation came into force across the United Kingdom. It is no longer a proposal.
“It is the law of the land under the Planning and Infrastructure Act. By continuing to refuse these mandatory updates to our constitution, we are not making a brave political statement. We are choosing to operate unlawfully.
“It is a statutory mandate, not a local choice. We do not have the legal jurisdiction to opt out, rewrite rules, or veto an Act of Parliament.
“Fighting a battle over powers we simply do not possess does nothing to protect our residents.
“It only paralyses our ability to serve them. We cannot afford to let ideology look out investment.
“We cannot afford to let stubbornness invite chaos.”
However, as the Conservative group and Independents, Steven Barton, Ray Dunning, Danny Carr, Vincent Ricci, Kaleel Khan and Cllr Cooney in voting against, it became clear the reforms would it be adopted.
Now the waiting game goes on, until legal advice is given, as the backlog of planning applications gets bigger.