How much power should be vested in local planning committees, especially when it comes to the consideration of multimillion-pound developments It's a question that has caused much controversy – and a good deal of grief – in Aberdeenshire Council. The issue arose over an application by the American billionaire businessman, Donald Trump. He applied to build a £1bn golf resort on a stretch of coastline which is deemed to be of environmental significance and of ‘special scientific interest'. The council's infrastructure services committee, which has the power of decision-making on planning applications, rejected the Trump application on the casting vote of the chairman, Martin Ford. The decision caused uproar in the area. Local business leaders, in particular, were outraged. Here was an opportunity to boost tourism and benefit the local economy that was turned down on the verdict of one man, a committed environmentalist, they argued. The minority SNP Scottish Government took the unusual step of calling in the application, even though no appeal had been lodged. At a subsequent meeting of the full council, Cllr Ford was sacked from his position as committee chairman, after a vote of no confidence. The saga has all the ingredients of a major planning controversy but the one issue that clearly needed to be reconsidered was the power of 14 councillors to make a decision on an issue which is of huge significance to the area without the endorsement of the full, 68-member council. Aberdeenshire Council subsequently decided to amend its scheme of delegation so future applications of regional and national importance could be decided by all members of the council. That seems a sensible way forward and one which should be considered by all other councils which place a large burden in the hands of just a few councillors. Search localgov.co.uk for more on this story. David Scott is a freelance journalist and former political editor for The Scotsman
