Who decides?
Havant Borough Council is voting on a change to its rules. This page explains what it means for the planning application at 1 Ferndale, and why the next few days matter.
The short version
- Right now, a ward councillor can ask for 1 Ferndale to be decided by the Planning Committee. They must ask before the consultation period ends on . They do not need five objections first.
- On , the council votes on removing that power. Its own report says the new rules “prohibit Councillors ‘calling-in’ applications”. The report does not say whether the change starts straight away or on 31 October.
- From , national rules apply. 1 Ferndale appears to be a “Schedule 2” application. It could still go to the committee, but only if the head of planning and the committee chairman both agree it passes a “gateway test”.
So the safest course is for a ward councillor to make the request now, under the rules that exist today.
What is the council voting on?
The council is voting on a change to its constitution. The constitution is the council’s rule book.
The item is called:
“Amendments to the Councils Constitution - Preparing for the Introduction of the National Scheme of Delegation for Planning Applications”
The council says the change:
“impacts the role of the Council’s Planning Committee, the ability of Members to ‘call-in’ planning applications and the scheme of authorisation”
Full Council makes the decision. That is a meeting of all the councillors. Havant Borough Council is due to vote on changing who decides planning applications on , at 5.30pm. The Governance Committee recommended the changes on .
See the agenda on the council’s website, or read the council’s report, HBC/088/2026 (PDF).
What we know
- Full Council is due to vote on 7 October 2026. The Governance Committee recommended the changes on 7 September 2026.
- The council’s report says the new national rules “prohibit Councillors ‘calling-in’ applications (including minor applications) to Committee as has been the practice here”.
- Under the new rules, an application like 1 Ferndale could only go to the Planning Committee if the Head of Planning and Growth and the Chairman of the Planning Committee both agree that it passes a “gateway test”.
- The report proposes a process for councillors to ask for that gateway test, if they give evidence of the planning matters that justify it. It would be a request, not a right.
- The national rules start on 31 October 2026. They do not say what happens to applications already in the system.
What we don’t know yet
- Whether the council’s new rules would start straight after the vote, or on 31 October. The report does not say.
- Whether the council will treat 1 Ferndale as a “Schedule 2” application. On the wording of the regulations, it appears to be one.
- What the process for councillors to ask for a gateway test will look like, and when it will be ready.
What the words mean
- Delegated decision
- One council officer decides on their own.
- Call-in
- A councillor asks for the decision to be made in public by a committee of councillors, instead of by one officer. The council also calls this the “Red Card” procedure.
- Planning Committee
- A group of councillors who decide some planning applications at a public meeting. Residents can send in a written statement.
- Gateway test
- The new national test for sending an application to the committee. Two people must agree it raises “an economic, social or environmental issue of significance to the local area” or “a significant planning matter having regard to the development plan and other material considerations”.
- Schedule 1 and Schedule 2
- The two lists in the new national rules. Schedule 1 applications must be decided by officers. Schedule 2 applications are normally decided by officers, but can go to the committee if they pass the gateway test.
- Ward councillor
- A councillor elected for your area. 1 Ferndale is in Waterloo ward, which has 3 councillors.
Who decides: now, and under the new rules
The rules now
Under the new rules
The rules now
Under the council’s current rules, a ward councillor can ask for a call-in in two ways.
- During the consultation period. The councillor writes to the Development Manager, giving good material planning reasons. The request has to be agreed in consultation with the Chairman of the Planning Committee. For 1 Ferndale, the consultation period is due to end on .
- Within seven days of being told the council intends to approve it. Same request, same people. This route only opens once the officer has made up their mind, so it is the fallback, not the plan.
Neither route requires a set number of objections. These rules are in the General Scheme of Delegation, March 2026 (PDF), paragraph 5.6.1(a)(iv) and (v). The council’s public page on planning decisions describes the same “Red Card” procedure and says the request “must be submitted prior to the end of the publicity period”. The council’s own report for the vote also lists these two routes, with no objection threshold.
One document says otherwise. Part 2, Section E1 of the constitution, paragraph 2.2(e) (PDF) adds a condition: at least five individual letters of objection, each from a different household and in the writer’s own words. That is why this site used to say five objections were needed. The council’s report for the vote does not mention that condition, and the file for 1 Ferndale already has well over five objections. Either way, the condition is met. But it is a good reason to write in your own words.
What the new national rules say
Parliament has made new regulations (SI 2026/854). They start on and every council in England must follow them. They sort planning applications into two lists.
- Schedule 1 applications must be decided by officers. This list includes small housing schemes of up to nine homes, but it leaves out any scheme that changes the use of a building containing flats, or changes the number of flats.
- Schedule 2 covers every other application for planning permission. These are normally decided by officers too. But they can go to the committee if a nominated officer and a nominated councillor both agree the 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 and other material considerations”.
1 Ferndale is an application to change the use of a building containing four flats into one large HMO. On the wording of the regulations, that makes it a Schedule 2 application. It is for the council to confirm this.
The government’s guidance is clear about what councils can no longer do:
“Current practices set out in local authority constitutions, such as the power for ward councillors to require cases to be called in for committee consideration or having trigger points for referral to committee if a certain number of objections is reached, will not be possible.”
What Havant proposes
The council’s report says:
“The new national scheme does, however, prohibit Councillors “calling-in” applications (including minor applications) to Committee as has been the practice here.”
The proposed new rules name the Head of Planning and Growth and the Chairman of the Planning Committee as the two people who apply the gateway test. If they disagree, the officer’s view wins. The report also asks the head of planning to set up a process for councillors to request a gateway test, if they provide evidence of the planning matters that justify it. That would be a request, not a right.
The report does not say whether the new council rules start on the day of the vote or on . It says the aim is for decisions “made on or after 31 October 2026” to be lawful. Until the council confirms the start date, treat the current call-in route as something that could close at any time after .
Neither the regulations nor the guidance say what happens to applications that are already in the system. If 1 Ferndale is still undecided on , expect the new rules to apply to it.
Questions for the council
- From what date will the new constitution apply?
- Will a call-in request made under the current rules, before the vote or before 31 October, still stand?
- Does the council treat APP/26/00065 as a Schedule 2 application?
- How can a ward councillor ask for the gateway test, and by when?
What does not change
- Your objection still counts. The council must take it into account.
- The consultation on 1 Ferndale is still due to end on .
- Planning reasons matter more than numbers.
- The council does not count template letters. Write your own.
Key dates
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| Full Council votes on changing who decides planning applications, at 5.30pm. | |
| Consultation on 1 Ferndale due to end. Objections and any councillor call-in request must be in by now. | |
| Planning Committee meets. This application only goes to the committee if it is called in. | |
| National scheme of delegation starts. Call-in by councillors ends everywhere in England. |
What helps, and what doesn’t
Helps
- Parking
- Traffic
- Trees
- Noise
- Too many people in one house
- Mistakes in the application
- Writing in your own words
Doesn’t help
- Who might live there
- House prices
- Identical template letters
What you can do
-
Email your ward councillors today
Write to the Waterloo ward councillors: Councillor Gwen Robinson, Councillor Ryan Brent and Councillor Peter Wade. Ask them to make the call-in request now, in writing, with planning reasons, before the vote on if they can, and in any case before .
-
Send your own objection
Send it before . Use your own words.
-
Ask the planning department
Ask in writing from what date the new rules will apply to APP/26/00065, and whether a call-in request made now will stand.
Email to the planning department
Put this in your own words. Say how the proposal affects you or your area, and keep the planning points that genuinely concern you. Identical copies of this text carry little weight.
Dear Planning Department, Planning application APP/26/00065, 1 Ferndale, Waterlooville, PO7 7NZ Full Council is due to decide on changes to the council’s constitution, to prepare for the national scheme of delegation for planning applications, on Wednesday, 7 October 2026. The national scheme of delegation comes into force on Saturday, 31 October 2026. Please could you tell me in writing: 1. from what date the amended constitution will apply to planning applications that are already being considered, including APP/26/00065; 2. whether a ward councillor’s request under the current scheme of delegation (paragraph 5.6.1(a)(iv), made within the consultation period) for this application to be determined by the Planning Committee will still stand after that date; 3. whether the Council treats APP/26/00065 as a Schedule 2 application under the Town and Country Planning (Discharge of Local Planning Authority Functions) (England) Regulations 2026; and 4. how and by when a ward councillor can ask for the application to be considered under the “gateway” test. Yours faithfully, [Your name] [Your address]
Last checked . Sources: the council’s agenda for Wednesday, 7 October 2026, report HBC/088/2026 (PDF), the proposed Planning Committee rules (PDF), the current scheme of delegation (PDF), the council’s constitution, Part 2 Section E (PDF), the council’s page on planning decisions, the 2026 Regulations and the government’s guidance.