Argyll and Bute’s planners have met government standards in nearly three-quarters of the criteria in a new report.
But the council received one red and three amber ratings for its 2017-2018 Planning Performance Framework.
That is the same score overall as last year, although this time the red warning is for enforcement, rather than stalled sites and legacy cases.
The council this week said the Scottish Government report highlighted planners’ ‘high quality service to businesses and residents’.
Decision times for both major and local applications were below the Scottish average, while no major applications were subject to legal agreements.
The enforcement charter, which states the council’s policy on enforcement action and tells the public how to make a complaint, was found to be 34 months old, although a new version has since been published.
Policy lead for planning and regulatory services, Dumbarton resident David Kinniburgh, said: “We have to be clear – Argyll and Bute’s future success is based on growing our economy and our population.
“This review has confirmed that the planning service has taken an ‘open for business’ approach and it is having a positive effect.
“While the Scottish Government has not asked us to make any improvements this year, it would be complacent not to want to improve year-on-year.
“We want to build on our reputation as a planning team that goes the extra mile to make things happen and make this a place that attracts high-quality developments and where families want to build their homes and their futures.
“The positive review reflects the hard work put in by our staff across what was a challenging year. My thanks to everyone involved.”
Positive comments in the review included:
- A customer-focused approach, designed to support customers through the planning process,
- Clear and reasonable requests for more information which flag up issues before applications are submitted
- Work to engage with elected councillors, stakeholders, developers and key agencies. Innovative additions to the website include an interactive story map, to guide people through complex documents, and an on-line submissions form
- A clear strategy for Local Development Plan 2 which involved input from stakeholders, developers and councillors.
The full report is available here: planning_performance_framework_2017_18_argyll_and_bute_rag
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