A London council is scrapping its planning committees in a move described as “ludicrous”.
Redbridge Tory councillor Paul Canal said the decision to take many planning decisions out of elected councillors’ hands was “anti-democratic”.
The decision comes after the Labour authority said it would abolish regional planning committees to make the system cheaper and more efficient.
Mr Canal, leader of the Tory group, said: “We recognise that since 2010 we have had a huge deficit and that more needs to be done for less.
"But this looks like they have put a point in their manifesto and are now doing it without having thought about the consequences. This is going to be a ludicrous way of taking planning decisions.”
The council has scrapped three regional planning committees which decided residential development applications. Under the plan, which will be reviewed in six months’ time, civil servants will have more power to take decisions about some applications.
Helen Coomb, cabinet member for planning, said the move would save £45,000 a year. She said: “Over the last few years there has been a reduction in the number of regional planning committees needed, and this means there is much less need for them.”
