Purpose

In September 2023, Cabinet
approved a series of high-level proposals to transform the
council’s planning service, including a range of new fees. It
delegated the implementation of the proposals, including to utilise
the council’s wholly owned trading company to deliver and
enhance elements of the planning service, to the Leader of the
Council, Assistant Director of Customer, Resident & Business
and Assistant Director of Finance & Commissioning (Section
151).
 
The aim of the proposals and
new fees included in this report is to transform the
council’s planning service into the best in the country,
eradicating extensions of time by ensuring applications are
processed in the fastest possible time frame, meeting the highest
quality standards.
 
The promotion of a robust
pre-application service and the introduction of invalid fees will
help to ensure submitted applications are of the highest quality,
removing unnecessary chasing, amendments and delays.
 
The introduction of a
fast-track service will ensure that householders can develop their
projects quicker and receive a decision within a guaranteed time
frame.
 
The introduction of amendment
fees will ensure that where an application must be reconsulted on,
the applicant funds the additional work, ensuring that only those
that benefit from these additional activities are funding the work,
and the costs do not fall to the wider taxpayers in the
district.
 
Finally, the introduction of an
interactive online planning tool and enquiry service will ensure
customers can get hold of the information they need 24x7 or, where
they need 1-2-1 support, can be guaranteed a response within a set
time frame.
 
This paper sets out the
transformation work that has taken place since September 2023 and
details the new fees that will be chargeable from 1 April 2024,
subject to approval.

Decision

The Leader of the Council approved the
proposed new local planning fees are launched from 1 April
2024.
 
The Leader of the Council approved, in line
with existing delegations, future changes in local planning fees
and charges are delegated to the Leader of the Council, Assistant
Director of Customer, Resident & Business and Assistant
Director of Finance & Commissioning (Section 151), unless
otherwise reserved to another body.