A town council has reinstated a planning committee after two years.

Oakham Town Council voted unanimously on Wednesday (July 8) to bring the committee back, to support residents while making planning processes more efficient.

"It's important we have this," town mayor Cllr Martin Brookes said. "We're not supporting our residents, so we need this committee. We don't have time for planning applications in these full council meetings.

"We haven't had a planning committee for over two years and it's not good. We've had no input on the planning application for the development off Stamford Road, and a lot of people are unhappy about it."

The motion was initially met with some misgivings from councillors regarding what efficacy the committee might have in practice.

"When we met with Rutland County Council, we were told that a vote by Oakham Town Council regarding planning matters would hold no more weight than a single resident," Cllr Paul Ainsley said.

"From my experience on the Rutland County Council planning committee, it's a very frustrating role," Cllr Ben Callaghan added. "You often find, with the best intentions, you want things to change, go through or not go through, only to be superseded by highway agencies or other bodies like that."

However, the mayor rebutted the comments with reference to the floodlights in the Oakham Rugby Football Club car park, which Oakham Town Council pushed to have switched off when not in use for environmental reasons, and Rutland County Council assented. "The county council took notice," he said. "We do have a role."

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Four members of the council voted to reinstate the planning committee, while three abstained. No councillors voted against.

Cllr Sally-Ann Wadsworth, Cllr Ben Callaghan, Cllr David Romney and town mayor Cllr Martin Brookes nominated themselves to sit on the committee, all of whom were unanimously voted through.