THE reputation of Bradford Council could be harmed by a perception that its planning process is unfair, a meeting heard.

The authority's Governance and Audit Committee was yesterday examining the planning process - in particular the system which decides whether a planning decision is taken by elected councillors at a public planning meeting or delegated to unelected officers.

Committee member Councillor Howard Middleton (Lib Dem, Bolton and Undercliffe) said it was important that the system was not just fair, but was perceived to be fair.

He said: "In terms of governance, planning is probably the most contentious thing the council does.

"So there is a very big reputational issue, with regards to Bradford Council, if there's a perception - whether accurate or not - about whether the system is fair and is applied consistently."

The meeting heard there were a number of reasons why a planning decision would be taken by a panel of councillors.

For example, if more than six people sent in a petition about a planning application, the matter would go before councillors, unless the officers agreed with the petitioners.

But the committee asked how the figure of six had been decided on.

Councillor Michelle Swallow (Lab, Clayton and Fairweather Green) said: "If there is one person who is objecting for a very clear reason and a lot of people have supported something for woolly reasons, that person who has objected for a clear reason could feel quite aggrieved."

Cllr Swallow said while they knew that officers were doing their jobs according to the legislation, and that people were having their voices heard, the perception was different.

She said: "That sense of feeling aggrieved that you haven't had your voice heard properly seems to come through quite a lot."

Planning manager Mohammed Yousuf said a recent relaxation of national planning regulations meant that more could be done under permitted development or prior notification rules, without the need for full planning permission.

He said in these instances, as long as certain criteria were met, the authority had to approve the schemes or they would be taken to appeal, lose the appeal and be met with a bill for costs.

The committee asked for all councillors to be given training on planning matters, and asked the Regulatory and Appeals committee to update a planning document to reflect changes in legislation.