A FIERY planning meeting which saw controversial plans for homes in Saddleworth and Oldham approved to the fury of protestors has been branded the "worst ever" by a committee member.

Shockwaves continue to be felt from the extraordinary planning meeting on July 1 which saw 265 homes and a new link road for Knowls Lane, and 32 homes for Hodge Clough in Sholver approved.

The night was mired in confusion as the acting chair, Cllr Clint Phythian, struggled to make the voting procedure clear, prompting heckles and shouts of "shambles" from the public gallery.

When the committee next convened at the Civic Centre, Liberal Democrat Garth Harkness told members he had written a letter of complaint about the meeting to council leader Sean Fielding and chief executive Carolyn Wilkins.

It was “quite frankly was the worst meeting I have ever attended” he said.

“As part of that letter I pointed out that I felt that procedurally, for those applications in question and Knowls Lane were not run correctly and were not appropriate, were not suitable decisions taken,” he added.

Cllr Harkness said he is still waiting for a response to that complaint.

Conservative Cllr for Saddleworth South ward, John Hudson also raised the issues around the chairing of the meeting.

Cllr Phythian had been standing in for Cllr Peter Dean on July 1.

“I know it was very sad that we had a gentleman in the chair that had never known about planning, and I’m the first one to say he shouldn’t have been chairing that meeting and I felt very sorry for him,” he said.

Cllr Hudson moved that the minutes of the previous meeting were incorrect, which was seconded by Cllr Harkness – but the majority of the committee voted they were a correct record.

Failsworth West Cllr Peter Davis said: “I don’t know what games these people are playing here because it was clear what people voted for – it was absolutely clear as day.

“The chair didn’t understand the procedure, he was inexperienced, I agree. But the members who voted, it was clear what they voted for.”

Hodge Clough road resident Tony Martin attended in person to ask whether the decisions of the previous meeting should be declared "void".

He told the meeting that there was "apparent bias" of Labour committee members towards approving the application for Hodge Clough, and the voting process was a "fiasco".

“By ignoring and not questioning the many valid points that were made to them it was evident that their minds were made up prior to entering the meeting, thus showing a lack of respect for what should have been a fair procedure,” he said.

“Should the decisions made be declared void on the grounds of unfairness and procedural impropriety?”

Chadderton North Cllr Barbara Brownridge, who was chairing the meeting, but was absent from July 1, responded that they are "confident" that the decisions adhered to planning legislation, and were compliant with council constitution.

“I would agree that it wasn’t the best run meeting that’s ever happened and there was some confusion about how the result was reported,” she added.

“Having said that, it’s quite clear from the voting that the majority of the members of the committee chose to accept the planning officers’ professional advice and recommend the application for approval.

“We do not intend to revisit this application.”