Cherwell has approved a plan to lift its planning designation, after losing 13 major appeals. Lost fees could reach £400,000. Updated November 2026.

Cherwell District Council could lose £200,000 to £400,000 in planning fees because developers can now go around it. The figures are in a report to its Executive, which on Monday 2 November approved a plan to win back its full planning powers.

Ministers designated the council on 15 June over its record on major applications. Since then, a developer can apply straight to the Planning Inspectorate for a major scheme anywhere in the district.

So far, one has. That application alone will cost about £15,000 to £20,000 in lost fees once it is validated. The report does not say which scheme it is, and we could not find a list of Cherwell cases on GOV.UK on 5 November.

How the council got here

The government’s limit is that fewer than 10% of a council’s decisions on major applications should be overturned at appeal. The council’s figures are:

  • April 2022 to March 2024: 10.43%. The council argued exceptional circumstances in 2025, ministers accepted, and it escaped designation.
  • April 2023 to March 2025: 11.2%, or 13 of 116 decisions. It tried the same argument in 2026 and this time ministers refused.
Bar chart showing 10.43% of Cherwell's major planning decisions overturned at appeal from April 2022 to March 2024, 11.2% from April 2023 to March 2025, against a government limit of 10%
Cherwell's appeal record against the limit. Chart by Banbury Online
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Who got it wrong

The report breaks down the 13 lost appeals, and most were not councillors defying their officers:

  • Eight followed an officer recommendation to refuse, which the Planning Committee backed.
  • Four were cases where councillors overturned their officers’ advice.
  • One was an appeal because no decision had been made in time.

It gives three reasons. Some cases were overtaken by events, such as the district’s five-year housing land supply position. Others involved judgements that “proved to be unsustainable at appeal”. In others, the council’s defence “could have been stronger”.

The detailed lessons paper is confidential. It is exempt from publication and so we have not seen it. The housing land supply problem is one the council still has.

What the money looks like

The latest budget monitoring report forecasts a £353,000 overspend on development management this year. Staffing and lower fee income are the main pressures. The same report sets aside £200,000 from contingency for extra planning posts, for 2026/27 only. The council as a whole forecasts a £412,000 overspend.

The £200,000 to £400,000 estimate assumes about 10% of major applications go to the Inspectorate. Officers were told that 20% to 30% of major applications were affected at Uttlesford, which was designated from 2022 to 2025. The report says that data is not verified. It adds that local developers have said they intend to keep dealing with Cherwell directly.

Major planning applications are the highest-scored risk on the council’s register, at 20 (“very high”). The budget report says appeal performance is now “comfortably below” the limit, and expects that score to fall next quarter.

When it could end

Not soon. The report sets out what the council needs before it can apply:

  • appeal losses below 10% over a rolling two years
  • at least two new quarters of actual figures at that level, plus a forecast
  • evidence that the action plan is being delivered

The Planning Advisory Service advised waiting until the December 2026 appeal figures are confirmed. It said there is normally one chance a year to apply. The report also warns of “further reputational damage” if the council applies too early, so officers will choose the moment with the portfolio holder.

The plan itself covers data and governance, training, staffing and systems. A smaller Planning Committee has been in place since May. Smaller applications have also improved: 67.2% were decided on time in the second quarter, up from 38.7% in the first, against a 70% target.

What it means for you

  • A large scheme near you may be decided by a planning inspector, rather than by the councillors on the Planning Committee. Check where an application has been lodged before you comment.
  • Applicants who take this route have no right of appeal, the report notes.
  • Smaller applications are not affected. Extensions and other non-major schemes still go to the council.

Councillors can call in the decision until noon on Monday 9 November.

Sources