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South Northamptonshire Council seek parish views on planning services
18-Nov-2008
South Northamptonshire Council met with many of the district’s parish and town councillors last month, to find out what they think about how to improve its planning service.
This service deals with hundreds of planning applications every year, and parish and town councils play a very important role in the decision making process. They are consulted on any applications that fall within their town or village, giving them the opportunity to object, approve or comment on the proposals. The Council then take into account their views when deciding whether or not to grant planning permission.
The Council’s new Director of Service Delivery, Steven Shuttleworth, wanted to meet town and parish councillors to hear what they think of the planning service and to help identify key areas that require improvement.
Over 30 parishes sent representatives to the meeting. The five main things they wanted are:
· Better communication.
· More prompt planning enforcement.
· More consistency.
· To feel they were listened to.
· More time to respond to planning consultations.
Councillor John Townsend, portfolio holder for planning said: “Dealing with planning applications is an essential service that the Council delivers, so it is vital that we get it right. The decisions that are made shape the future appearance of our towns, villages and countryside as well the lives of residents and businesses across the district.
“We aim to provide a good quality service. Listening to the views of the key bodies that deal with us on planning applications is an important part of our improvement effort.”
Steven Shuttleworth, Director of Service Delivery said: “The discussion was extremely helpful and constructive, and I am very grateful to all the representatives who attended and expressed their ideas. We have taken a full record of all the comments made and we will make use of these to inform our future improvement programme.”
South Northamptonshire Council has met separately with local planning agents and architects, to also seek their views and ideas.