Dawn Saunders
Photo: Durham

Durham planning committee

Councillor Dawn Saunders

Peterlee wardMember, Area Planning Committee (Central and East)

Seen at planning committee from September 2025 to July 2026

  • 71%attendance
  • 3recorded votes
  • 7agreed, no vote against recorded
  • 21decisions at their meetings

Councillor's page on the council's website

As at 17 September 2026, according to Plota’s analysis of Durham’s published minutes, Councillor Dawn Saunders attended 12 of the 17 planning committee meetings whose minutes list them, from September 2025 to July 2026, in the chair at 1. Each member's vote is recorded on 3 decisions at those meetings: Saunders voted for the resolution on all 3. On 3 of those votes the officers’ recommendation is known, and 1 went against it. On 7 other decisions the minutes record no vote against, so Saunders is counted as agreeing; they are left out of the shares below.

Meetings attended
12 of 1771%
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
21
Applications decided at the meetings they sat on, as the minutes record them.
Recorded votes
3
Decisions where the minutes, the council's recorded vote or the meeting's recording give each member's vote: 3 for, 0 against, 0 abstained.
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.
Declared interests
1
Decisions on which the minutes record them declaring an interest.

Voting record

Votes by quarter

Not drawn: 3 recorded votes is too few to show a pattern over time.

Against officer advice

Not drawn: 3 recorded votes with a known officers’ recommendation is too few to compare.

Agreement with other members

Not drawn: the minutes record no divided vote of this councillor by name. On a unanimous vote every member agrees, so it says nothing about agreement.

Attendance

71%

12 of 17 meetings whose minutes list them; apologies for 5.

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

Area Planning Committee (Central and East): 5 meetings · Area Planning Committee (South and West): 5 meetings · Area Planning Committee (North): 2 meetings

Show as a table
Every meeting
DateCommitteeAttendance
21 Jul 2026Area Planning Committee (Central and East)Present
16 Jul 2026Area Planning Committee (South and West)Present, Chair
14 Jul 2026Area Planning Committee (Central and East)Present
9 Jun 2026Area Planning Committee (Central and East)Apologies
26 Mar 2026Area Planning Committee (North)Apologies
26 Feb 2026Area Planning Committee (North)Apologies
19 Feb 2026Area Planning Committee (South and West)Present
10 Feb 2026Area Planning Committee (Central and East)Apologies
29 Jan 2026Area Planning Committee (North)Present
13 Jan 2026Area Planning Committee (Central and East)Present
18 Dec 2025Area Planning Committee (North)Present
11 Dec 2025Area Planning Committee (South and West)Present
20 Nov 2025Area Planning Committee (South and West)Present
16 Oct 2025Area Planning Committee (South and West)Present
7 Oct 2025Area Planning Committee (Central and East)Present
25 Sep 2025Area Planning Committee (North)Apologies
9 Sep 2025Area Planning Committee (Central and East)Present

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 Saunders 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

  • Asked a question
    “Councillor D Saunders asked if the application represented a maximum of eight potential occupants, or whether the maximum would be six.”
    Minutes, 21 Jul 2026, 18 Boyd Street Durham
  • Spoke on neighbours' amenity
    “Councillor D Saunders noted the impact on residential amenity, adding that the Highways policies were for family homes, where in many cases not all those occupying the properties were adults.”
    Minutes, 21 Jul 2026, 18 Boyd Street Durham
  • Spoke
    “Councillor D Saunders noted concern as regards a lack of three-bed bungalows across the county and coming through within planning applications. She noted that they were needed for parents with SEND children and in other circumstances where there needed to be live-in help.”
    Minutes, 13 Jan 2026, Land North Of The Old Chapel Colliery Road Bearpark
  • Moved refusal
    “Councillor Saunders moved a motion to go against officer recommendation and refuse the application as the applicant had carried on despite knowing it was against planning permission. She did not want to set a precedent for other people to think they could go against planning permission policies and get away with it.”
    Minutes, 11 Dec 2025, 8 Church Mews Winston Darlington
  • Raised concerns
    “Councillor D Saunders was concerned with the potential age difference of the children who may reside in the care home which raised a red flag to her.”
    Minutes, 20 Nov 2025, Applegarth New Road Crook
  • Asked a question
    “Councillor D Saunders sought assurance that if the application was approved that the applicant would home children from County Durham.”
    Minutes, 20 Nov 2025, Applegarth New Road Crook
  • Asked a question
    “Councillor D Saunders asked if it was still to be a three-bed bungalow, how big was the size of the land the bungalow was on and how many houses could be built on the land.”
    Minutes, 20 Nov 2025, Applegarth New Road Crook
  • Asked about parking
    “Councillor D Saunders asked as regards when looking at a ‘family home’ whether it was considered that all occupants may be drivers and therefore there could be need for more that two parking spaces.”
    Minutes, 7 Oct 2025, 43 Oak Avenue Sherburn Road Estate Durham

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