East Suffolk planning committee

Councillor Seamus Bennett

Member, Planning Committee South

Seen at planning committee from September 2025 to August 2026

  • 92%attendance
  • 7recorded votes
  • 2agreed, no vote against recorded
  • 100%with the majority
  • 0%against officer advice

As at 8 September 2026, according to Plota’s analysis of East Suffolk’s published minutes, Councillor Seamus Bennett attended 12 of the 13 planning committee meetings whose minutes list them, from September 2025 to August 2026. Each member's vote is recorded on 7 decisions at those meetings: Bennett voted for the resolution on all 7. On 7 of those votes the officers’ recommendation is known, and none went against it. On 2 other decisions the minutes record no vote against, so Bennett is counted as agreeing; they are left out of the shares below. Bennett proposed 2 motions the committee passed and seconded 1.

Meetings attended
12 of 1392%
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
17
Applications decided at the meetings they sat on, as the minutes record them.
Recorded votes
7
Decisions where the minutes, the council's recorded vote or the meeting's recording give each member's vote: 7 for, 0 against, 0 abstained.
With the majority
7 of 7100%
Votes for the resolution the committee passed. An abstention is not counted as with the majority.
Agreed, no vote against recorded
2
Decisions the minutes record with no vote against and no count. Counted as agreeing, and left out of the shares.
Votes against officer advice
0 of 70%
Recorded votes where the officers’ recommendation is known: for a resolution that went against it, or against one that followed it.
Proposed or seconded
2 / 1
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

Votes by quarter

For the resolution on all 7 recorded votes; the most in Q2 2026 (3).

7 recorded votes, by the quarter of the meeting.

ForAgainstAbstained
024
2025
2026
Show as a table
Votes by quarter
QuarterForAgainstAbstained
Q3 2025100
Q4 2025100
Q1 2026200
Q2 2026300

Against officer advice

Bennett went against officer advice less often than the committee: 0% of votes, against 15% of decisions.

The share that went against the officers’ recommendation.

Bennett’s votes0%0 of 7
The committee’s decisions at their meetings15%2 of 13

The typical member of this committee (the median of 6 members with 5 or more such votes) voted against officer advice on 0% of them.

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

92%

12 of 13 meetings whose minutes list them; apologies for 1.

The typical member of this committee attended 92% (the median of 20 members listed at 5 or more meetings).

Every meeting

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

PresentApologies
20252026

Planning Committee South: 8 meetings · Strategic Planning Committee: 4 meetings

Show as a table
Every meeting
DateCommitteeAttendance
25 Aug 2026Planning Committee SouthApologies
28 Jul 2026Planning Committee SouthPresent
6 Jul 2026Strategic Planning CommitteePresent
23 Jun 2026Planning Committee SouthPresent
26 May 2026Planning Committee SouthPresent
13 Apr 2026Strategic Planning CommitteePresent
24 Feb 2026Planning Committee SouthPresent
27 Jan 2026Planning Committee SouthPresent
12 Jan 2026Strategic Planning CommitteePresent
16 Dec 2025Planning Committee SouthPresent
31 Oct 2025Strategic Planning CommitteePresent
28 Oct 2025Planning Committee SouthPresent
23 Sep 2025Planning Committee SouthPresent

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 Bennett 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

How this is worked out

Everything here is read from East Suffolk’s published planning committee minutes, 24 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 the one they were elected for, from Democracy Club’s open election results.

Also on this committee

All East Suffolk committee councillors