The names of councillors voting for, against or abstaining a planning decision will be revealed from 1st April, the Alliance Party has announced.

The powers on how planning applications will be dealt with are to be transferred to the new council.

The local Council will put an end to anonymous voting on planning issues, with Councillors unanimously agreeing to record decisions on all planning decisions.

Councillor Andrew Muir said: "With planning powers transferring to local Councils on 1 April 2015 it's vital that appropriate procedures are put in place to ensure planning decisions are made in an open, transparent and accountable manner. I am therefore delighted that the new Council unanimously agreed that it is no longer acceptable to have anonymous voting with Councillors simply raising their arm and no voting records retained detailing who voted for or against planning applications. Only if you attend the meeting do you see how Councillors have voted by raising their arm.

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"Minutes of the meeting will record voting record of Councillors on each issue for public review and scrutiny by members of the public. Without the change secured a recorded vote detailing how each Councillor voted would have only occurred if a Councillor requested such before members were given the opportunity to raise their hands for or against. This inevitably requires Councillors to predict if a division vote will occur."

(CD/IT)