Uttlesford cabinet fears half-a-million drop in income after council stripped of planning powers

Finance chiefs at UDC fear that a government decision to strip the council of major planning powers could lead to lost planning application fees worth more than £500,000.

This income drop is likely to put this year's budget 'in the red', so the council's cabinet on Monday, February 14 agreed to budget for a £214,162 deficit in 2022/23.

Council officers have also warned that a Residents for Uttlesford plan to invest in property – which has cost £275.6 million so far – will need a “rethink”.

Councillor Neil Hargreaves, the council’s portfolio holder for finance, said: “We have taken the view that about half of the revenue that we would have got from major planning applications will be lost.

“This has taken our budget from a surplus to a deficit.”

The government identified UDC as the fourth-worst planning authority in the country, in front of Dartmoor National Park, Eastbourne – which shares planning with Lewes, and Bournemouth – which no longer exists.

The government found that 16.5% of the major applications which UDC received between March 31, 2018 and March 31, 2020 were overturned before December 2020.

The council was handed a Designation Notice which means that developers with "major" plans can bypass UDC and submit their proposals directly to the Planning Inspectorate.

Cllr Hargreaves forecasts a revenue drop of £560,000.

He will use cash from council reserves to offset a deficit caused by this.

But the amount in reserves is projected to grow by 12.4% by 2027.

A medium-term financial strategy report also notes that UDC’s flagship plan to buy property with loans, rent for a return, sell, and repeat will be “revised”.

A property may need to be sold at the end of 2022/23 to "enable future balanced budgets to be set".

Uttlesford District Council spent £55m building a Waitrose distribution centre in Chorley, Lancashire (Image: Google Earth)

UDC has already committed £275.6m to its portfolio, which in includes a £43m Amazon warehouse in Gloucester and a £55m Waitrose warehouse in Lancashire.

The council also said it wants to grow Chesterford Research Park to provide sustainable employment in Uttlesford.

Uttlesford District Council's cabinet agreed to continue its investment into Chesterford Research Park (Image: Archant)

Cross-party councillors will debate the budget on Tuesday, February 22.