B&NES Council is one of the top five performing council planning departments in the UK, in terms of dealing with the largest volumes of major applications most quickly.
This is according to the Annual Planning Survey 2014, produced by GL Hearn and the British Property Federation.
As a result, the Group Manager for Development Management, Mark Reynolds, was invited to No 10 Downing Street on 26th November, to meet with the other top-performing councils to discuss ways to share best practice and make further improvements to the planning system.
Cllr Tim Ball, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Homes and Planning, said: “The survey is probably the largest independent assessment of the planning system ever undertaken so this is a real accolade for the Council.
“Bath & North East Somerset Council is committed to working in partnership with the development industry to deliver the challenging levels of growth required in our Core Strategy, balancing the need to protect and enhance our unique built and natural environment.
“Securing major planning developments provides residents and visitors with the homes, jobs and infrastructure we need.”
Mark Reynolds added: “The Council focusses on delivering a high quality planning service to all applicants.
“We have skilled and experienced case officers who understand the importance of making growth happen and we monitor our performance closely, recognising that the speed of delivering planning decisions is a key factor in securing economic growth.”
The survey involved 252 Local Planning Authorities, applicants and their advisors and analysing over 4,000 individual applications for the period April 2013 to March 2014.
