New planning system success - says A&B Council

Argyll and Bute Council’s Planning Department has achieved its best performance since 2007, signifying that both Scotland’s new planning system and significant internal changes have proven to be successful.

The last quarter of 2010’s performance measurements highlighted that the planning department are determining 90% of household applications within a two month period, and 75% of all applications within their appropriate timescale; being two months for small scale development applications, and four months for major applications. Customer satisfaction and productivity are also on the increase, sharing this positive trend of improvement. Argyll and Bute Council is now the leading rural authority in planning developments, with performance some 25% above the average of other comparable Scottish Local Authorities.

Councillor Danny Kelly, Chairman of the Planning, Protective Services and Licensing Committee, is pleased with the overall performance.

“There is still great interest in the development industry in Argyll and Bute and I am pleased that our planning department is assisting and facilitating sustainable growth. There have been a number of innovative and radical reforms in the planning department in the past 18 months, such as e-planning and creation of a single committee and I am glad to see these changes are helping to deliver improvements in performance.

“We are keen to engage with anyone who may be interested in undertaking a home improvement or building project in 2011 to ensure you have the correct consents in place before works begin. We have also brought our ‘comment on a planning application’ and ‘apply for permission’ links to the home page of the council website, so that there is improved access to these and other popular pages.”

More information on planning applications, including how to apply for permission, is available on the council’s website: www.argyll-bute.gov.uk