WATCHET councillor Jenny Hill has decided to resign from the district council's planning committee in protest at plans to force members to undergo compulsory training.

Cllr Hill took umbrage at a suggestion from West Somerset District Council chief executive Tim Howes that training was necessary to ensure planning committee members were seen to be making open and honest decisions.

She said: "I resent the fact the chief executive wants all members to make open and honest decisions - I have always made open and honest decisions and I will be writing to the leader to give him my resignation from the committee."

Former planning committee chairman Angela Palmer said she believed many councillors were becoming disillusioned with the entire planning process.

She told Monday's meeting of the council's overview and scrutiny committee: "Members are beginning to feel that being on the planning committee is no longer necessary.

"We are advised so strongly that we must follow policy or the local plan. We are not expected to vote against officers."

Both councillors made their comments as the committee debated whether to accept Mr Howes' suggestions for compulsory planning training.

He wanted to ensure all decisions were "above suspicion" and to that end proposed a new set of procedures as well as training.

He wanted to force councillors to declare whether they had been lobbied, whether they had been to inspect a site and to agree to items being deferred if a decision was likely to be taken against the advice of officers.

Council vice-chairman Cllr Mike Gammon welcomed in principle the idea of training but suggested the chief executive might like to step forward as a candidate himself.

He told the committee: "I've had a lot of training through Exmoor National Park Authority and I've been pushing for years to have something similar here.

"Officers should be included in this as well as councillors as our chief executive needs it more than anyone else."

He said the committee was not there simply to "rubber-stamp" the advice of planning officers and said it was crucial councillors made up their own minds on applications in the interests of democracy.

Current planning chairman Cllr Ann Foxhuntley also agreed that training was a good idea.

But Cllr Keith Ross disputed Mr Howes' suggestion that decisions contrary to the recommendations of officers should "generally be deferred to the next meeting so that the implications of the contrary decision could be fully explained".

Cllr Ross feared democracy would be lost if councillors were continually warned they could face a costly planning appeal if they went against officers' advice and were subsequently urged to change their minds.

Overview and scrutiny chairman Anne Cave agreed and said the idea of deferring all contrary decisions flew in the face of the advice of auditors who had criticised the existing speed of decision-making within the council.

Committee members agreed to recommend to full council that the principle of deferring decisions should only be accepted where it was deemed to be "appropriate" rather than as standard for each and every contrary decision taken.

They believed training should not be forced on planning committee members and instead opted to recommend that members were appointed in preference to those who were willing to have training in probity.

They also felt that training should be shared between all local authorities, including the national park, to ensure a uniform approach.

Mr Howes' suggestions were also due to be discussed by members of the planning committee as the Free Press went to print yesterday (Thursday).

A final decision will then rest with the full council next month.

Earlier this year, the council's planning committee was rapped by the Audit Commission for allowing "non-planning reasons" to influence decisions.

The planning service was rated as "poor" with "uncertain prospects" for improvement, while inspectors believed some councillors had "inappropriate responses" to lobbying and offers of hospitality.