Lancashire County Council has received a letter from the Planning Inspectorate stating that decisions on planning appeals lodged against decisions made by its Development Control Committee earlier this year will now be determined by the Secretary of State.
In response, leader of the county council, Jennifer Mein, said: "I'm extremely disappointed. These decisions are of great interest and importance to many people in Lancashire and ultimately this letter means those decisions will now be made by a lone politician in London.
"When the appeals were lodged it already meant that the decisions would be taken out of the hands out of elected representatives here in Lancashire.
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