Sunderland planning committee

Councillor Martin Haswell

Member, Planning and Highways Committee

Seen at planning committee from March 2026 to September 2026

  • 80%attendance
  • 25decisions at their meetings

As at 28 September 2026, according to Plota’s analysis of Sunderland’s published minutes, Councillor Martin Haswell attended 4 of the 5 planning committee meetings whose minutes list them, from March 2026 to September 2026. The committee decided 25 applications at those meetings. The minutes we hold do not give each member's vote on them.

Meetings attended
4 of 580%
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
25
Applications decided at the meetings they sat on, as the minutes record them.
Declared interests
1
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 Haswell and no voting chart is drawn.

Attendance

80%

4 of 5 meetings whose minutes list them; apologies for 1.

Every meeting

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

PresentApologies
2026

Planning and Highways Committee: 4 meetings

Show as a table
Every meeting
DateCommitteeAttendance
28 Sep 2026Planning and Highways CommitteePresent
20 Jul 2026Planning and Highways CommitteePresent
29 Jun 2026Planning and Highways CommitteePresent
10 Jun 2026Planning and Highways CommitteeApologies
30 Mar 2026Planning and Highways CommitteePresent

Decisions

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

Their vote
Outcome

In the minutes

What the minutes record Haswell 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 Haswell commented that the application site was within his ward and that he welcomed the proposals which would see a vacant site brought back into use. He hoped that the proposals would not be reduced over time.”
    Minutes, 28 Sep 2026, Land East And West Of The Southern Side Of The Northern Spire Bridge And South Of Paul Watson Way, Sunderland
  • Asked a question
    “Councillor Haswell queried why the representation from the Ward Councillors had not been included within the main report and also why a supplementary report relating to the representation had not been produced in the absence of the information being in the main report.”
    Minutes, 29 Jun 2026, Land At Silksworth Lane/ Silksworth Road Sunderland
  • Asked about neighbours' amenity
    “Councillor Haswell queried whether there had been consideration given to requiring the window to have frosted glass to prevent overlooking; the representative of the Executive Director of Economy and Place advised that there was no justification to require this as there was no direct overlooking and only a slight shortfall in the separation distance.”
    Minutes, 29 Jun 2026, Land At Silksworth Lane/ Silksworth Road Sunderland
  • Spoke
    “Councillor Haswell expressed his disappointment that Persimmon were not in attendance as he had questions which he wanted to put to them and also suggestions for amendments which would alleviate the concerns. He moved that the application be deferred to allow Persimmon to attend.”
    Minutes, 29 Jun 2026, Land At Silksworth Lane/ Silksworth Road Sunderland
  • Spoke on design and scale
    “Councillor Haswell confirmed that the matters which he wanted addressed by Persimmon were the consideration of the installation of frosted glass into the window on the north elevation of the property on plot 157 and the installation of fencing of a suitable height to prevent overlooking of properties on Cavalier Way from the footpath.”
    Minutes, 29 Jun 2026, Land At Silksworth Lane/ Silksworth Road Sunderland
  • Spoke on the conditions
    “Councillor Haswell referred to the timings for works to be undertaken set out in condition 7; he felt that 7am could be too early to start work given the proximity of other residential properties.”
    Minutes, 29 Jun 2026, Sawmills Herrington Burn Houghton-le-Spring
  • Spoke
    “Councillor Haswell referred to the comments made regarding a travel plan etc and agreed that the right decision needed to be made with the appropriate information at hand.”
    Minutes, 30 Mar 2026, 5 Elms West Sunderland
  • Seconded
    “The Chairperson proposed that the application be deferred pending a Travel Plan, the proposal was seconded by Councillor Haswell.”
    Minutes, 30 Mar 2026, 5 Elms West Sunderland
  • Spoke
    “Councillor Haswell referred to the three potential options relating to the M&S building frontage and enquired if Members would get the opportunity to vote on these as he believed there should be democratic accountability and the decision should not be a delegated one.”
    Minutes, 30 Mar 2026, 56-90 High Street West Sunderland
  • Spoke on design and scale
    “Councillor Haswell added that it was an exciting development which would be keenly followed by residents but requested that the final designs avoid the steel and glass boxes which had become common.”
    Minutes, 30 Mar 2026, 56-90 High Street West Sunderland
  • Proposed a condition
    “Councillor Haswell also requested if a condition could be included that the named lanes be retained for heritage.”
    Minutes, 30 Mar 2026, 56-90 High Street West Sunderland

How this is worked out

Everything here is read from Sunderland’s published planning committee minutes, 5 meetings from March 2026 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 Sunderland committee councillors