Essex council Uttlesford has been placed into special measures by the government for the quality of its decisions on major planning applications.

The decision to designate Uttlesford, which means that the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) will take over decision-making at the council, comes after years of controversy over the district’s local plan, which saw a residents’ group take control of the council in May 2019.

The decision is in response to Uttlesford seeing a raft of major planning decisions overturned on appeal in the two years to March 2020, according to government figures.

…