Last Ever Eden Planning Meeting Itself Cancelled Just Hours Before It Was Due To Start

The last ever Eden Area Planning Committee meeting has itself been cancelled at the last minute, just hours before councillors were due to meet this morning.

Members of the committee were notified by email shortly before 5pm yesterday evening that the meeting, scheduled to start at 10am today at Voreda House, would no longer take place.

The meeting was expected to be the final sitting of the Eden Area Planning Committee before the current local planning system is replaced as part of Westmorland and Furness Council's changes to its planning arrangements.

The cancellation means councillors will now not get the planned final meeting of the committee, which has dealt with planning applications across the former Eden area.

As Penrith.Town previously reported, the Eden committee was due to meet for what was expected to be its final time as the council moves towards a single 13-member planning committee covering the whole of Westmorland and Furness.

The changes will bring the existing area planning committees to an end, with the new arrangements also coming as national planning reforms are introduced later this month.

Councillors had previously raised concerns about the changes, including the loss of local decision-making and the reduced role for elected members in determining planning applications.

Under the new system, most planning applications are expected to be dealt with by planning officers, with only a smaller number going before the new planning committee.

But before the Eden committee could hold its final meeting, that meeting has now been cancelled.

Members were given notice of the cancellation less than 17 hours before they were due to arrive at Voreda House.

At the time of publication, the reason for the last-minute cancellation had not been confirmed.