THE deputy leader of Bournemouth council will not be asked to stand down from his position as chair of the town's planning board.

In neighbouring Poole, an independent report into complaints about the planning system found that having a cabinet member chair the planning board gave an undesirable impression to the public.

But a review of Bournemouth council's constitution decided no changes were needed in the light of the report.

The Pitt Report said of Poole: "The significant involvement of cabinet members in development control decisions gives the impression that the planning committee is not acting independently of the executive, irrespective of whether it is or not."

It said the issue would not be a "serious problem" in most authorities but was "significant" in Poole.

Although a steering group in Bournemouth decided not to recommend any changes, its chairman, Liberal Democrat Cllr Richard Smith, wants the issue looked at again.

He said deputy leader Cllr John Beesley was "very knowledgeable" about planning and had generally done a good job but that the issue was about more than individuals. The council's standards board is to consider the issue separately.

Cllr John Beesley said the Pitt report was specific to Poole. "As far as I can recall, it didn't take reference points from anywhere else in the local government framework," he said.

He said there were checks and balances in the system and he took advice if there was ever the possibility of a conflict of interest.