Have the Administrators Lost the Plot on the Planning Department?
The annual report shows service performance indicators for the Statutory Planning Department over the last 4 years. For the 3-year period leading up to the removal of Councillors, there was a slight increase in the time taken to determine planning applications from 62 in 2017, to 72 in 2019. Over the same period, the service standard improved when 77% of applications were approved in the required 60-day timeframe in 2017 rose to 79% applications approved within 60 days in 2019.
Under the care of the Administrators, the average time to decide planning applications has extended from 72 to 77 days. The service standard suffered a massive decline from the 79% high achieved under the Councillors to a significant fall to 55%. Only just over half of all applications are now completed in a timely manner as per the regulations.
The only positive in the Planning department from this annual report is that the average cost of an application has reduced slightly due to an increase in the vicsmart application process-a system introduced in recent times by the Govt to streamline certain applications and mandating a quick and painless process for applicants.
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