Planning Committee - amendments and adjournments

Amendments

A member may request or ‘move’ an amendment to the officer recommendation.

An amendment may

• Leave out words
• Leave out words and insert or add others
• Insert or add words (as long this doesn’t change the motion).

Only one amendment can be moved and discussed at any one time. No further amendment may be moved until the amendment under discussion has been voted for or against. 

The amendment must be put to the vote.  If an amendment is not voted for, other amendments to the original motion may be moved. 

If an amendment is voted for, the motion as amended takes the place of the original motion. This becomes the substantive motion to which any further amendments are moved.

After an amendment has been carried, the Chairman will read out the amended motion before accepting any further amendment, or if there are none, put it to the vote. 

Adjournments

There may be times when it is necessary for the Planning Committee to adjourn because:

• The Chairman needs to take advice from the planning officers / legal advisor and that advice needs to be researched
• The nature of the business on the agenda means that all planning applications could not be considered, so the committee will adjourn to another day
• Members need a private session to discuss confidential legal advice.

A request or ‘motion’ to adjourn must be seconded and approved by a majority before the committee can adjourn.