The size of the planning committee at Lichfield District Council could be reduced.
A report to the local authority’s economic growth, environment and development overview and scrutiny committee earlier this week says the current 22-member panel is too large.
It has instead recommended reducing the size of the planning committee to 15 councillors.
The report by Cllr Ian Pritchard, Cabinet member for economic growth, development and environment, said: “Current best practice advice encourages smaller committees as they tend to offer greater consistency in decision making, lower costs to run and better attendance at meetings.
“Major planning appeal performance has improved since 2015, but is still well below the national average when compared to other councils, highlighting the need for more robust decision making.”
Under the proposals, the planning committee would be made up of 13 representatives from the controlling Conservative group and two opposition councillors.
The report has also recommended training ‘reserve’ members of the panel to cover any changes in the make-up of the committee.
