A COUNCILLOR gained wholehearted support from across the political divide at Thurrock Council following his call for an inquiry into its planning department.

Local journalist Neil Speight, who has lived and worked in Thurrock covering the council since 2004, was elected as an independent councillor for Stanford-le-Hope West in May.

Together with four other independent councillors he called for an extraordinary council meeting to demand an investigation into the department, which he said was blighting businesses and residents.

At the meeting Cllr Speight who has edited three printed newspapers in the borough (Thurrock Gazette, Thurrock Enquirer and the Thurrock Independent) is currently the editor of Thurrock Nub News, and is the national group's editorial director. This story has been written by Christine Sexton, the BBC Local Democracy Reporting Service regional reporter.

At the meeting, that took place last Thursday (14 September) Cllr Speight said Thurrock's planning system was "shambolic" and told members: "Applications, even of the most simple kind, can take two years or more to pass through the system.

"There is blatant warfare in the chamber between officers and councillors.

"Legal officers dither over advice, or they are not being present to offer it. There have been ridiculous delays over the processing of paperwork, particularly that related to section 106 agreements."

In his address to members presenting his motion, Cllr Speight added: "We have seen developers play the system, twist the rules

"At the other end of the planning scale we have seen small businesses go to the wall, waiting for planning decisions that never come through as the ever whirling door of the planning office sees officers come and go with monotonous regularity – meaning their case work has to start all over again.

"And architects and builders, who rely on the work, have also struggled to carry on."

Mr Speight said the council had paid hundreds of thousands of pounds for officers to deliver a local plan since 2015 but it is still not complete.

More than a dozen councillors across the politcal divide spoke on the motion.

Among them was Cllr Luke Spillman, Conservative councillor for Ockendon, who said: "I think it would be hard to challenge this motion in any way. It's eminently sensible. There are definitely problems within Thurrock. There's no doubt about that.

"My concern with planning full stop is the planning system is dysfunctional across the entire country.

"The great value of this, shining the light on our system, is that it will bring up the total farce that the national planning system is. The whole system is broken and needs root and branch reform. The system was built for a bygone age and it's about time we had a proper discussion to get it sorted."

At cabinet meeting on Wednesday, council leader Andrew Jefferies, criticised the independent councillors for calling the extraordinary meeting, which he said was likely to cost £3,000, rather than just questioning cabinet.

At the council meeting, Cllr Speight said emails to Cllr Jefferies had gone unanswered and the Independent group would forgo their allowances until the cost of the meeting was paid.

Cllr Speight's motion calls on Thurrock Council to commission a fully independent inquiry into the management and achievements of Thurrock Council's planning department since 2015 – with its remit to produce a year-by-year performance analysis.

"And to delve into the reasons why the council still does not have a local plan, six years after officers were asked to produce one.

All councillors present supported the motion with no abstentions.

The meeting can be viewed in full via the link below.