Agenda item

The Joint Director of Planning and Economic Development and the Head of New Communities, presented the Development Management Performance report. This updated the committee on performance and ongoing service improvements within the Development Management Service. Further to the information contained in the report, the committee was informed that in respect of the Department of Communities and Local Government (CLG) performance targets for speed of decision making, the service had maintained a position above designation. There was a risk of designation on appeal performance which was subject to the outcome of two outstanding appeals. The committee was assured that despite the improvement in performance, the service was not becoming complacent with further work still to do. The Director emphasised that the Council was a competent authority with a competent planning service.

The committee discussed the report:

·         Members asked how many five year land supply decisions were Planning Committee decisions which went against officer recommendations.  This data was not to hand at the meeting but would be provided to members following the meeting.

·         In response to a query regarding the classification of major and non major applications, members were informed that CLG considered anything above ten dwellings a major development.

·         The committee how many officer and committee decisions had become appeals and how many of these related to major and non major applications. This information was not available at the meeting but would be provided outside the meeting. The committee was informed that the vast majority of applications were dealt with by officer decisions.

·         The committee was informed that the department was analysing data of all officers’ caseloads, to enable better understanding of this in order to become more sophisticated in the way caseloads were managed. Members were informed that officers’ caseloads were within capacity.

·         The committee was informed that applications were asked to be withdrawn when there were significant problems with the application. The applicant was then invited for pre-planning advice before resubmitting their application. Advising applicants to withdraw their application was not done routinely and data on this would be provided.

·         The submission of invalid applications was discussed and it was proposed that an application checklist be provided to applicants to help them submit valid applications. Members were informed that the Council’s planning portal, through which 80% of planning applications were submitted, did this to a point as it required applicants to submit a Design and Access Statement before it accepted the submission of a planning application. Guidance was being simplified so that it was easier for applicants to understand.

·         The Joint Director advised that following data analysis, it had been found that several planning agents accounted for the majority of invalid applications submitted. These agents would be written to and help and advice offered to help them submit valid applications. The service would also be looking at simplifying its planning guidance. The service had found that some planning agents did not keep their clients informed of the progress of their applications, therefore the service would be trying to keep householders informed of this.

·         Members were informed that all senior planning officers oversaw with the S106 officer, the S106 for the applications on their caseload and were trying to start S106 conversations earlier. Members advised that there was a need for officers across organisations to work more closely and in a more consistent manner. There were still a number of pending S106 agreements, which were being worked through.

·         The service was conscious of delays to planning applications submitted by businesses.

The committee NOTED the report and asked that a further update report be provided at its February committee meeting. The committee requested that comparison data cover a wider time period.