Thursday
25
April
Heads roll at underfire Planning Dept.
21/10/2011 @ 02:32
Powys County Council’s underfire Planning Department has received a major shake-up, and mywelshpool understands that some senior management has been removed.The department has come in for criticism due to the length of time it takes to process applications, with the recent Marston’s proposal in Welshpool taking nine months to crawl through the department.
And the Council has reacted strongly, relaunching its new service this week following a two-month consultation process which involved trade unions.
While the council has kept the full details of the announcement under wraps, its admission that the changes “were not driven by cost” indicate that performance has forced a change at management level.
The service, which currently employs 26 staff, provides all planning services in the county outside the Brecon Beacons National Park and deals with the fourth highest number of applications in Wales.
Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Culture, Councillor Wynne Jones, said: “We have carried out a radical overhaul of the service and put in place a structure that is capable of meeting the needs of our customers and delivering against national performance indicators.
“Planning provides an important public service that can play an important role in the regeneration of the county. While performance across the county had been improving in recent years with national targets being met on a regular basis, there was room for improvement.
“We have carried out a thorough review of operations and introduced improvements to provide a service that is responsive to need and provides a consistent professional service in all parts of the county. It is essential that developers receive the same high standards where ever they operate.
“Too often there were differences in the way planning applications were dealt with across the county and that was not good enough.
“The changes we have introduced were not driven by cutting costs, although there is a reduction in management posts, but we have made sure that we have a sufficiently resourced and professional team in place capable of responding to the challenges presented by increasing demands and pressures of the planning system.
“We are confident that the changes we have implemented will deliver the high quality service needed in Powys.”
Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Culture, Councillor Wynne Jones, said: “We have carried out a radical overhaul of the service and put in place a structure that is capable of meeting the needs of our customers and delivering against national performance indicators.
“Planning provides an important public service that can play an important role in the regeneration of the county. While performance across the county had been improving in recent years with national targets being met on a regular basis, there was room for improvement.
“We have carried out a thorough review of operations and introduced improvements to provide a service that is responsive to need and provides a consistent professional service in all parts of the county. It is essential that developers receive the same high standards where ever they operate.
“Too often there were differences in the way planning applications were dealt with across the county and that was not good enough.
“The changes we have introduced were not driven by cutting costs, although there is a reduction in management posts, but we have made sure that we have a sufficiently resourced and professional team in place capable of responding to the challenges presented by increasing demands and pressures of the planning system.
“We are confident that the changes we have implemented will deliver the high quality service needed in Powys.”
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