David Freeman
Photo: Durham

Durham planning committee

Councillor David Freeman

Member, County Planning Committee

Seen at planning committee from September 2025 to September 2026

  • 95%attendance
  • 7agreed, no vote against recorded
  • 40decisions at their meetings
  • 1motion proposed

Councillor's page on the council's website

As at 17 September 2026, according to Plota’s analysis of Durham’s published minutes, Councillor David Freeman attended 18 of the 19 planning committee meetings whose minutes list them, from September 2025 to September 2026. On 7 other decisions the minutes record no vote against, so Freeman is counted as agreeing; they are left out of the shares below. Freeman proposed 1 motion the committee passed.

Meetings attended
18 of 1995%
Meetings whose minutes list them as present, sending apologies or absent. Minutes that list only those present cannot show an absence.
Decisions at their meetings
40
Applications decided at the meetings they sat on, as the minutes record them.
Agreed, no vote against recorded
7
Decisions the minutes record with no vote against and no count. Counted as agreeing, and left out of the shares.
Proposed or seconded
1 / 0
Motions the minutes say they proposed, then seconded, that the committee passed.
Declared interests
0
Decisions on which the minutes record them declaring an interest.

Voting record

The minutes we hold do not give each member's vote at these meetings, so no vote is counted for Freeman and no voting chart is drawn. The minutes do name who proposed each motion.

Attendance

95%

18 of 19 meetings whose minutes list them; apologies for 1.

The typical member of this committee attended 86% (the median of 31 members listed at 5 or more meetings).

Every meeting

Each square is a meeting whose minutes list them, oldest first.

PresentApologies
20252026

County Planning Committee: 9 meetings · Area Planning Committee (Central and East): 9 meetings

Show as a table
Every meeting
DateCommitteeAttendance
8 Sep 2026Area Planning Committee (Central and East)Present
29 Jul 2026County Planning CommitteePresent
21 Jul 2026Area Planning Committee (Central and East)Present
14 Jul 2026Area Planning Committee (Central and East)Present
8 Jul 2026County Planning CommitteePresent
9 Jun 2026Area Planning Committee (Central and East)Present
2 Jun 2026County Planning CommitteePresent
12 May 2026Area Planning Committee (Central and East)Present
7 Apr 2026Area Planning Committee (Central and East)Present
4 Mar 2026County Planning CommitteePresent
4 Feb 2026County Planning CommitteeApologies
13 Jan 2026Area Planning Committee (Central and East)Present
3 Dec 2025County Planning CommitteePresent
5 Nov 2025County Planning CommitteePresent
20 Oct 2025County Planning CommitteePresent
7 Oct 2025Area Planning Committee (Central and East)Present
1 Oct 2025County Planning CommitteePresent
9 Sep 2025Area Planning Committee (Central and East)Present
3 Sep 2025County Planning CommitteePresent

Decisions

Every application decided at a meeting they sat on, newest first, with their vote where the minutes give it.

Show
Their vote
Outcome

In the minutes

What the minutes record Freeman moving, seconding, asking or saying on each decision, in the minutes’ own words. Passages that name more than one councillor, or a member of the public, are left out.

Subjects in what the minutes record

  • Spoke
    “Councillor D Freeman noted he supported the comments from previous speakers and added that he felt the idea that the two flats would appeal to young professionals was laughable as he knew the street very well and it would only appeal to students. He noted the applicant had been previously refused in terms of an HMO application and felt this application was therefore a cynical one.”
    Minutes, 21 Jul 2026, 18 Boyd Street Durham
  • Spoke on parking
    “Councillor D Freeman noted that the property did have some land at the end of the street as a sort of ‘front garden’, adding that therefore it could be possible to incorporate some parking, unlike some of the other properties in the street without that ‘end land’.”
    Minutes, 21 Jul 2026, 18 Boyd Street Durham
  • Spoke in support
    “Councillor Freeman supported the motion to defer the application. He suspected that the Applicant may be aware that the application was unsuitable due to the ecological impact.”
    Minutes, 2 Jun 2026, Land To The West Of Fenhall Lodge Greencroft Park Lanchester Durham
  • Seconded
    “He moved a motion to refuse the application which was seconded by Councillor Freeman.”
    Minutes, 2 Jun 2026, Land To The West Of Fenhall Lodge Greencroft Park Lanchester Durham
  • Spoke
    “Councillor Freeman stated that the hotel had been a welcome addition to the previous application and in response to a question the Senior Planning Officer explained that there had been no requirement to assess the viability of the hotel.”
    Minutes, 2 Jun 2026, Prince Bishops Shopping Centre High Street Durham
  • Spoke on the conditions
    “Whilst the application provided retail space, Councillor Freeman noted that it would be significantly reduced and queried whether the application could include a condition to ensure that units were used for retail only.”
    Minutes, 2 Jun 2026, Prince Bishops Shopping Centre High Street Durham
  • Asked a question
    “With regards to the calculation of Section 106 contributions, Councillor Freeman queried the rationale for reducing this contribution for investment into the public square.”
    Minutes, 2 Jun 2026, Prince Bishops Shopping Centre High Street Durham
  • Spoke
    “Councillor Freeman accepted that there had been changes in retail since the shopping centre opened and that the situation could not continue.”
    Minutes, 2 Jun 2026, Prince Bishops Shopping Centre High Street Durham
  • Spoke
    “Councillor D Freeman noted the objections raised in terms of fire safety and asked if Officers could provide any reassurance as regards potential fire risks; was the application safe?”
    Minutes, 12 May 2026, 23 Mistletoe Street Durham
  • Spoke
    “Councillor D Freeman noted he was the Local Member for the area and was broadly supportive of the scheme. He noted the building had been unused for a long time, however, he did not think the proposals would make it look much better, though the proposals would mean it would be used for something.”
    Minutes, 7 Apr 2026, 7 Atherton Street Durham
  • Spoke
    “Councillor D Freeman noted some background to the application site. He explained that the site looked to be poor quality grassland, however, it was the site of former colliery housing up until the 1940s, his grandparents having lived there.”
    Minutes, 13 Jan 2026, Land North Of The Old Chapel Colliery Road Bearpark
  • Spoke
    “Councillor Freeman acknowledged the number of empty properties, but this had been initiated by the Council, with the ongoing threat people of losing their homes and could not be used as justification for approval.”
    Minutes, 3 Dec 2025, Third Street, Former Fourth Street And Fifth Street Horden Peterlee
  • Spoke
    “Councillor Freeman noted that prior to the recently established greater need for housing development caused by the Government’s damaging change to housing targets for County Durham, the Council did not perceive that there was a need for an estate in this location, or elsewhere in County Durham.”
    Minutes, 5 Nov 2025, Land At Red Barns Brandon Durham
  • Spoke
    “Similar to the previous application, Councillor Freeman felt a sense of hopelessness that the Council were no longer in control of the planning process, which was due to the unreasonable housing targets which had been imposed by the government. He was concerned that developments would be approved on a first come, first served basis as developers were aware of this situation.”
    Minutes, 5 Nov 2025, Land To The South Of Cockhouse Lane Ushaw Moor
  • Spoke
    “Councillor D Freeman noted that sadly he also felt that the application could not be refused, however, he hoped that in the future following changes to the CDP it maybe possible to refuse such HMOs applications.”
    Minutes, 7 Oct 2025, 6 Goodyear Crescent Sherburn Road Estate Durham
  • Spoke
    “Councillor D Freeman noted the application contained two elements, the retail unit and the PBSA.”
    Minutes, 9 Sep 2025, Land South Of South College The Drive Durham
  • Spoke
    “Councillor D Freeman noted that Members of the Committee had raised a number of issues, adding that the application was far from perfect. He explained that he would have liked better protections for the non-designated heritage assets, however, it had been explained by the Officer why that was not the case.”
    Minutes, 9 Sep 2025, Bowburn Methodist Church Ash Terrace Durham Road Bowburn Durham
  • Moved approval
    “Councillor D Freeman moved that the application be approved, he was seconded by Councillor M Wilkes and upon a vote being taken the vote was tied.”
    Minutes, 9 Sep 2025, Bowburn Methodist Church Ash Terrace Durham Road Bowburn Durham
  • Spoke on highway safety
    “Councillor Freeman acknowledged that the Committee were unable to resolve the wider highways issues through the planning application and that there were substantial Section 106 contributions towards education.”
    Minutes, 3 Sep 2025, Land To The North West Of 17 Quilstyle Road Wheatley Hill
  • Spoke
    “The motion was lost and Councillor Freeman reminded Members that there were no policy grounds to reject the application and any appeal would be lost. He advised that occasionally Members were in a position where they had to approve items that were undesirable, when they accorded to policy.”
    Minutes, 3 Sep 2025, Land To The North West Of 17 Quilstyle Road Wheatley Hill

How this is worked out

Everything here is read from Durham’s published planning committee minutes, 34 meetings from September 2025 to September 2026. A councillor is matched across meetings by the council’s own member number where it has one, otherwise by full name.

Each vote shows how it is known. Named in the minutes: the minutes, or the council’s own recorded vote, list each member with their vote. From the count and the names: the minutes give the numbers and name the members in the minority, and every member present is known. All members present in favour: the minutes say every member voted for it and the members present are known. No vote against recorded: the minutes record the decision with no vote against, no abstention and no count, at a council whose minutes print a divided vote when there is one, so each member present is counted for. Unanimous vote: the minutes call the decision unanimous, or give a count with no one against and no one abstaining, and each member present is counted for. From the meeting recording: the vote was heard on the council’s recording of the meeting and closes exactly with the members present. Where none of these holds, the vote is left as “Not recorded” and is not counted.

Votes are on the resolution the committee passed, so a vote for is a vote with the majority. A vote is a decision on the application in front of the committee, not a statement of the councillor’s views. A percentage is shown only with five or more votes, decisions or meetings behind it.

Source: Plota analysis of the council’s minutes. The party is from the council’s own list of councillors.

Also on this committee

All Durham committee councillors